Under Story
by Zennistrad
Summary: One year has passed since the disastrous research mission to the mythical Island in the Sky. With Ballos defeated and the Demon Crown destroyed, the island and its inhabitants return to their peaceful existence. But when the magic seal on Mt. Ebott is broken and monsters begin living on the surface, the Island's true nature and relationship to monsterkind is revealed.
1. Introduction

_Long ago, two races ruled over earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS._

 _One day, war broke out between the two races._

 _After a long battle, the humans were victorious._

 _They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell._

 _But not all the monsters were sealed underground._

 _Some chose not to fight in the war to begin with._

 _Instead, they fled to a mythical island in the sky._

 _This island, said to be the tomb of a sorcerer, became their new home._

 _Many years later, the monsters living underground returned to the surface._

 _With the war forgotten, humans welcomed monsters with open arms._

 _But what became of the monsters living on the island?_

 _This is where our story begins..._


	2. Chapter 1

Sue Sakamoto sat upright in her bed, staring wistfully out the window of her suburban home. The gentle sound of nighttime raindrops pattering against the glass resonating in her floppy ears. Staring at her own translucent reflection, she pondered the strange form she possessed. Even a year after being transformed it still felt alien to her. She wasn't sure if was because mimigas didn't need to sleep as much as humans did or if it was the anxiety, but every night she stayed awake long past her bedtime, with the same worries weighing heavily on her mind.

She let out a sigh as she gazed at the dreary, overcast skies and puddles of rain outside her bedroom. Her mother had forbidden her from going outdoors, out of fear that her appearance would arouse suspicion. At least on during the day she could get pleasant scenery of the neighborhood while the skies were clear. She envied the children who played outside on the streets, and longed for a day where she might be able to make new friends.

Sue's eyes suddenly widened. Her eyes, which were far more capable of seeing in the dark than when she was human, had picked up on something strange outside the window. Not just strange, but downright peculiar. It might have been the strangest thing she'd ever seen, even more so than anything she'd encountered during her misadventure on the Island.

Just across the street from her house were two skeletons. One tall and gangly, and the other short and stout, both of which appeared to be engaging in a heated conversation. Her curiosity piqued, Sue lifted her ear and pressed it against the glass. With the improved hearing of her mimiga body she could just barely make out what they were saying to each other."

"I'm telling you," said the tall skeleton, "my voice is different now! It feels like it's lost some essential element of its uniqueness and charm! How can I, the great Papyrus, be a negotiator without the succulent ear candy that is my voice?"

"Doesn't sound any different to me," said the short skeleton. "Why are wandering around in the rain, anyway? Shouldn't you be preparing for any diplomatic missions?"

"Ah, but Sans, I _am_ preparing! As ambassador to humankind it is my duty to familiarize myself with their world! Hence we will explore their neighborhoods and boldly go where no skeleton has gone before!"

"So we're just going to wander in the rain at two in the morning?"

"Of course! What else would we... Ah... Ah... _Achoo!_ "

"Sounds like you're catching a cold", said Sans. "Maybe we should head back. Don't want to be sick for the big day, right?"

"Sick? Nonsense! I, the great ambassador Papyrus, have diplomatic immunity! Ah... Ah... _Achoo!_ "

"You okay, bro?"

"Yes, of course. Perhaps we should extend our exploration of the human world to someplace indoors."

Sue removed her ear from the window, an expression of utter bewilderment crossing her face. _Skeletons? And they can talk? AND they can catch colds?_

She quickly pulled the covers over herself, burying her head in her pillow. _Great, now I'm seeing things._ _No more staying up past midnight for me._

* * *

Sue woke up the next morning from an undisturbed sleep. Feeling especially well-rested, she quickly got dressed and descended the stairs, making her way to the kitchen, where brother Kazuma was enthusiastically flipping pancakes over a griddle. The scent of the pancakes caught the attention of Sue's sensitive nose, causing her mouth to water in anticipaiton.

"Mmm, smells delicious!"

"Morning Sue", said Kazuma. "Pancakes will be done in a few minutes."

"Sounds great! Where's mom, by the way?"

Kazuma skillfully tossed a half-cooked pancake into the air before catching it again in the griddle. "She's in the living room watching the morning news. Could you do me a favor and tell her breakfast will be ready soon?"

"Sure thing!"

Sue entered the living room, where her mother Momorin was sitting on the couch, watching what appeared to be a show where three news broadcasters sat on a couch and talked about politics. _Why is mom so interested in this boring stuff, anyway?_

"Hey mom, Kazuma says pancakes will be ready soon", said Sue.

"In a moment, dear," replied Momorin. "They're talking about the latest controversy with the mayor. It's downright scandalous!"

 _Another one?_ "Alright, just letting you know."

"We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news!" the television suddenly cried out. The image of the three broadcasters on the couch disappeared, replaced with that of a single, grey-haired reporter sitting behind his desk. "Monsters have begun to emerge from underground and are coming into contact with human society!"

" _What!?_ " Sue exclaimed.

"Oh my", Momorin gasped.

"According to eyewitness testimony, the monsters have thus far shown no hostility towards humankind. We now bring you exclusive coverage of their official statement to humanity."

The screen cut away once more, to a static-filled image of a long, gangly skeleton in an empty room.

"Sans, is the camera working?"

"Everything's working fine", said a second voice from off-screen.

"Excellent! Let us proceed, then!" The tall skeleton cleared his throat. "Greetings, humans! As you may have noticed, monsters like myself have begun to appear on the surface! But fear not, for I, the great ambassador Papyrus, declare that we come in peace! Indeed, we desire nothing more than to live our lives in harmony, without fear of persecution! We welcome our human brethren with open arms! And those of us without arms welcome you with open legs!"

"What about the ones that don't have legs either?"

"Well, I'm sure they'll welcome the humans with something. Either way, we possess nothing but good will towards humankind! We'll see you soon, new friends, and may your spaghetti always be al dente!"

Momorin pressed the power button on the remote control, and the television switched off. For several seconds she and Sue simply stared at the screen in bewilderment.

"Those skeletons... they were real?" said Sue. "Did that actually just happen? Mom, you saw that too, right?"

"Yes," said Momorin. "But truth be told, I'm not sure this isn't some sort of elaborate joke."

"Let's worry about that later," Sue sighed. "We should just go eat breakfast for now."


	3. Chapter 2

The pancakes on Sue's plate sat uneaten. She poked and prodded at them with her fork, absentmindedly cutting them up into smaller and smaller pieces. She had all but forgotten her appetite, her thoughts remaining on the news broadcast from earlier that morning. Across the table sat Kazuma and Momorin, both of whom had already nearly finished their serving.

"Hey Sue, what's wrong?" said Kazuma, "You haven't touched your breakfast. Pancakes are your favorite, remember?"

"Sorry Kazuma, I've just been thinking about things lately. You heard about the big news, right?"

Kazuma raised an eyebrow. "Big news? What do you mean?"

"I believe she means the news broadcast from this morning", said Momorin. "Call me skeptical, but I doubt it means anything."

"Mom, you saw their message!" Sue cried in exasperation. "How can you have any doubts?"

"Well, you have to admit that it does seem rather outlandish," said Momorin. "It all sounds like complete fiction to me."

"Um, _hello?_ I've spent the past year as a magical floppy eared rabbit-goat!" Sue exclaimed. "How is _any_ of this strange by comparison?"

"Well, I suppose I've gotten used to seeing you like this. I don't think I'll ever get used to talking skeletons."

"Um... Is there something I'm missing here?" said Kazuma. "I feel like I'm out of the loop."

"Oh, it's nothing we need to worry about right now," said Momorin, finishing the last few bites of her breakfast. She stood up and began to clear her plate. "I'll get to work on the transmogrifier. Professor Booster sent me some new information last week. I feel like we're on the verge of a breakthrough!"

Sue rolled her eyes. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Momorin didn't seem to hear her daugher's sarcasm. She placed her dishes in the sink, and hurriedly left the kitchen, heading towards the downwards staircase in the nearby corridor that led to the basement laboratory.

Sue gave Kazuma a forlorn look. "Why can't she just accept that I'll be stuck like this forever?"

"You shouldn't be so hard on Mom. She's doing this because she cares about you."

"I know", Sue sighed. "But I can't stand seeing her work so hard when I know it's all for nothing. There's no way I'll ever be human again."

"Are you really just going to give up like that?" said Kazuma. "Don't you at least want to hold onto the hope that you might be able to go outside again?"

"Yeah..." Sue replied dejectedly. She twirled her fork around in her pancakes, which had become mushy and pulverized from her fidgeting.

"Actually, now that I think about it," she interrupted herself, "I might not have to worry about that anymore. Kazuma, could you take a look out the front window for me?"

"Huh? What for?"

"Come on, it won't take long. Just look out the window and tell me what you see."

Kazuma scooted out of his chair and stood up. "Alright, I'll humor you", he said, exiting the kitchen.

Shortly afterwards, an ear-piercing scream came from the direction of the front door, almost as loud as it was high-pitched. "Sue! H-h-h-help!"

Sue quickly jumped out of her chair and rushed towards the front of the house, towards the front door and the windows looking out at the front porch. She disregarded the fact that she wasn't normally allowed near the front windows and came rushing to her brother, who was cowering with his back pressed against the wall opposite the front door.

"Oh my God! Kazuma!" Sue squealed excitedly. "Does this mean it's true? Are there monsters outside?"

"Y-y-yes!" Kazuma stammered. "What are they doing out there? Is it an invasion? What if they attack us? I don't have any weapons!"

"Relax Kazuma," Sue reassured. "Let me take a look", she said, approaching the front window.

"Sue, wait, you're not allowed to do that!" Kazuma protested. "Besides, it could be dangerous!"

"Calm down for a moment, will you? I need to see this for myself." Sue peered out the front window with baited breath. What she saw was much more than she could have anticipated.

Just outside the front porch was a small crowd of creatures who took numerous shapes and sizes. Elves, fairies, slimes, frogs, ghosts, snowmen, monsters with wings, monsters with tentacles, monsters with no appendages, monsters which looked like animals, monsters which looked almost but not quite human, and monsters which looked like nothing she had ever seen before. Despite their inhuman apperances, there were many humans freely intermingling with them, some reluctant, some apprehensive, and others eagerly greeting the new arrivals. Nearly the entire neighborhood had come outside just to meet the monsters.

As she stared out the window, Sue felt rush of raw emotion washing over her. Tears of joy began to pool in her eyes as she came to a realization.

"Oh, my God, it's true! There are monsters on the surface! And they're friendly! You don't have to worry, Kazuma, they're friendly!"

"Huh? Friendly?" Kazuma replied in bewilderment. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh! You know what this means, right? It means if I go outside, I'll fit right in! I've got to tell mom about this!" Sue quickly bolted out of the entry hall, towards the stairs to the basement.

"Sue, wait!" Kazuma cried out. But by then, she was already gone.

* * *

"No! Absolutely not!"

"Aw, but mom!" Sue moaned in disappointment, her voice piercing the hum of numerous computers and machines in the laboratory. "You said I couldn't go outside because people might be afraid of me! But now that there are all kinds of weird monsters outside, I can go out without raising suspicion, right?"

"You don't know that," Momorin chided. "The monsters have only been around for less than a day, and we don't know if their intentions are sincere. What makes you think that humans will be so accepting?"

"Mom, come on!" Sue desperately replied. "This is my only chance!"

"I'm sorry Sue, but it's too dangerous. I can't risk you getting hurt."

"Please, you have to let me outside!" Sue collapsed onto her knees and begged. "I promise I'll be okay! I... I haven't felt fresh air in so long!"

" _I said no, and that's final!_ " Momorin yelled.

Sue instantly fell quiet, stunned into silence by her mother's sudden outburst. "F-fine", she stammered, fighting to hold back the tears forming in her eyes. "I'll just go to my room and _stay_ there! Forever!"

Without another word, she stormed out of the laboratory.

* * *

Sue sat quietly on her bed, staring glumly out the window beside her. Through the glass she could make out the sight of several monsters and humans on the street, though by then most of them had already departed. Perhaps the novelty of meeting otherworldly creatures for the first time had worn off for her neighbors, or perhaps the monsters went back to wherever they called home for the time being. Either way, there were only a scarce few outside who remained, and the suburb had seemingly gone back to its normal routine.

Well, except for the monsters, anyway. It was almost shocking how uneventful the entire thing was. She'd expected that monsters integrating into human society would cause a lot more turmoil. Either way, she knew would never get the chance to truly experience the result.

 _...Or would I?_

Sue looked out the window peered straight down. Just outside and below her bedroom was a patch of bright golden buttercups. The patch was large enough that she could land on it easily if she were to jump out the window.

 _I wonder... would it be enough to cushion my fall?_

Of course, there was also the issue of getting her window open to begin with. Her mother had sealed it shut, and her past attempts to push it open through sheer strength had failed. If she wanted to escape, she had to try something different. Though the window was bolted shut, the glass was still just as breakable as any other. Realizing how easily she could break through, she crawled out of her bed and faced the window from the opposite side of the room. All she needed was a good running start, and she would be free.

Sue hesitated. _Wait_ , _no. This is a horrible idea! There's no telling how much I'd hurt myself!_

But she couldn't think of any other way to escape. She had to find a way out of the house; after a year of being trapped indoors her body desperately yearned to feel fresh air once again. Seeing the clear and sunny skies through the window outside filled her with a sense of determination she'd not felt in a long time, at least not since she'd been transformed.

Taking a deep breath, she sprinted across the room at full speed. As the glass pane of the window rapidly approached, time itself seemed to slow to a crawl. In a single bound, she leaped over her bed and crashed violently into the windowpane.

Sue wasn't sure what had happened after that. The very moment she'd made impact, her entire world exploded in pain. Every single one of her senses was overwhelmed with the soreness that engulfed her body. Gradually, the pain dulled, and she took a moment to observe her surroundings. She lifted her face off the ground, and found that she had been lying face down in the patch of buttercups outside her window.

" _Ptoo!_ " Sue spat out a buttercup that had found its way into her mouth. _Yuck, I almost swallowed that_ , she gagged.

Slowly, Sue stood up, her body still aching all over from her successful stunt. She took a quick look at her injuries, and to her surprise there were strangely few of them. While her body did have several cuts from the broken glass, the bleeding had been mostly absorbed by her fur, and they weren't quite as serious as she would have expected. She figured her fur must have prevented the glass from cutting as deeply as they could have.

"Sue, is everything all right? I heard something crash." Sue's superior hearing picked up her mother's voice coming from the hallway inside, just beyond her room.

 _Crap! I gotta get moving before she catches me!_

As fast as her body would allow, Sue quickly sprinted out of the front lawn and into the neighborhood beyond. Without bothering to look both ways she bolted across the street, not even aware of whether or not there was any traffic. As she reached the other side she heard at least one very angry driver yelling some decidedly impolite words at her. She then turned to the right and ran down the sidewalk as quickly as she could, desperate to get as far away from her home as possible. Eventually the entire neighborhood became little more than a passing blur, and after a full minute of running her body finally tired out.

Her stamina depleted, her sprint quickly slowed to a stop. Her lungs burned from the exertion, and her legs felt like they were about to melt from exhaustion. As she paused to catch her breath, she was able to take in her surroundings for the first time. This part of the neighborhood was foreign to her, with many unfamiliar houses surrounding her on each side of the street. If she'd been here before, it was either so briefly or so long ago that she'd not bothered to commit it to memory.

But more important than the houses were the other things, the parts of the experience of being outdoors that she'd missed for so long. She felt the sunshine radiating against her skin, and the cool breeze ruffling against her fur. She looked saw the bright blue sky above, more clearly than she had seen it for as long as she can remember. She saw the vibrant colors of the flowers that were planted in each of the house's gardens. And in the distance she saw the majestic Mount Ebott, the lonely mountain that was visible on the horizon for miles around, even in the nearby city.

Sue breathed in deeply, overjoyed to be experiencing what had been deprived from her for so long.

 _What a beautiful day!_ She thought to herself. _Flowers are blooming, birds are singing... seems like a great day for a game of catch!_

Sue continued to take in the sensations of the outdoors as she briskly traveled down the sidewalk. She wasn't even paying attention to where she was going when her body collided with another.

"Oof!" Sue exclaimed, falling onto her rear end. She looked up at the person she had collided with. Standing over her was a human boy with brown hair and a purple and blue striped shirt. Judging by his stature, he appeared to be slightly younger than Sue was, two years younger at the most. The child looked down at Sue with an expression of concern, offering a hand to help her up.

"Are you okay? You look hurt."

Sue took the boy's hand and climbed back up to her feet. "Yeah, just a couple of scrapes. My name's Sue, what's yours?"

"It's Frisk. Nice to meet you, Sue."

"Same here!" Sue replied cheerfully. "Gosh, it's been so long since I've met someone new! I know this is kind of sudden, but do you wanna be friends?"

The boy smiled back. "Of course! Why don't you come to my house and we'll take care of those scrapes? My mom and I just moved in."

"No problem! Lead the way!"

Her chest swelling with exuberance, Sue followed the young boy as they continued down the sidewalk, further away from Sue's house.

 _Not only did I get to go outside, I made a new_ _friend!,_ she thought. _I think this might be the happiest day of my life!_


	4. Chapter 3

Sue wasn't quite sure how long she had been following Frisk. The scenery that surrounded her had already been unfamiliar before, but now it looked completely different from anything Sue had seen in her neighborhood. The houses had gradually grown farther and farther apart from each other, and the road narrower and less well-traveled, to the point where there was no longer even a sidewalk next to it. The sparse yet well-pruned shrubbery on either side of the road slowly grew thicker and more forested. Perhaps most strikingly of all, they were now very close to Mount Ebott, which loomed over them.

"Frisk, how much farther do we have to go?" Sue asked. "It feels like we've been walked for almost five miles."

"We're almost there", Frisk replied.

Continuing down the road, they eventually came to a dead end. The road terminated at the edge of a thick forest, with a large sign at the end, where the road met the border of the woods.

"Come on, it's just beyond here", Frisk said.

"Huh? What are you talking about? This is where the road ends." Sue replied in bewilderment.

"I know. It's in the forest." Frisk walked forward, maneuvering around the sign and stepping onto the dirt beyond it. "Are you coming?"

"Frisk, wait!" Sue cried out. She ran forward and ducked beneath the sign, quickly catching up to Frisk in the woods. Tall trees surrounded them on all sides, with the sunlight only barely managing to pierce through the thick canopy. Twigs and fallen leaves crunched beneath their feet as they walked through the forest, and the ground began to slope slightly upwards as they continued.

"F-frisk, I don't think we're supposed to go this way..." Sue said. "I think we're getting closer to the mountain. They say people who go there never return..."

"Nonsense!" Frisk replied. "I've been there before and I came back fine. Besides, we moved out of the mountain a few weeks ago. Our new home is in this forest."

"Huh? It is?"

"You'll see. It's right up ahead."

"If you say so", Sue replied. _This is so surreal,_ she thought. _Am I imagining all of this?_

Frisk led Sue further through the forest, eventually coming to a patch of foliage. Sue followed Frisk as he pushed through the bushes, leading them both to a clearing. Right in the center of the clearing was a small. Its appearance was remarkably quaint, with only a single story and walls built out of unpainted and unvarnished wood.

"We're here!" said Frisk.

"This is where you live?" Sue asked.

"Yup! We just built it a couple weeks ago. Mom says we'll be fixing it up a bit more soon."

Frisk led Sue to the front door and pushed it open. "Mom, I'm home!" he called. "I brought someone with me, too! Would it be alright if my new friend stayed for a while?"

"Oh! Of course, my child!" a voice called back. "Why don't I come to the door and introduce myself?"

Sue heard footsteps approaching the doorway, and soon a figure emerged in the doorway.

"Why hello there, I- Oh my!"

Sue's jaw abruptly dropped. She stared up in shock at the figure that was apparently Frisk's mother. She was decidedly non-human, her skin covered head to toe in white fur, with large floppy ears on either side of her head. Were it not for the horns on her head and the fact that she was the size of an adult human, Sue would have easily mistaken her for another mimiga.

Frisk's supposed mother simply stared back, her face frozen in an equally surprised expression. "Is it... is it really you? Is this real, or do my eyes deceive me?"

"Um..." Sue replied awkwardly. "I'm pretty sure this is real, yeah. As real as anything else that I've seen so far."

"...As real?"

"Then again, maybe I can't really be sure," Sue said. "This has all been so strange, I'm beginning to wonder if I'm still in bed, and this is all a figment of my imagination. Maybe I'm just a really vivid dreamer."

Frisk loudly cleared his throat. " _Sue_ , why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Oh, right! Of course! Sorry about that, Miss... Frisk's mom." _There's no WAY that can be right._ "My name's Sue Sakamoto. Nice to meet you!"

"Oh... Oh, I see! I must have misunderstood!" Frisk's mother laughed nervously. "My name is Toriel. Never mind that though, you look like you've been hurt. Let me take a moment to heal your wounds..."

Toriel waved her hand, and Sue felt a tingling sensation wash over her. When it faded, she realized that the cuts she'd inflicted on herself from the broken glass had been fully healed.

"H-huh? Magic?" Sue stuttered.

"There, that's much better." said Toriel. "Why don't you come in and make yourself at home? I'm sure you and Frisk will get along wonderfully!" She turned around and withdrew back into the house.

"Okay, now this is just getting _too_ weird," Sue remarked. "What exactly is going on here, Frisk?"

Frisk simply stared back, glaring at Sue in exasperation.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"


	5. Chapter 4

The interior of Frisk's house had a very cozy and welcoming atmosphere. While each room was quite small, the decorations and pastel-colored walls made each room seem quite lively. Every room was lit with multiple lamps, which strangely didn't appear to have any power source.

Sue had collapsed onto the couch in the living room, resting her weary legs from the long distance they had traveled. Frisk sat on the floor in front of her and was putting together a jigsaw puzzle, a task made all the more difficult by the fact that multiple pieces had been stained by what appeared to be marinara sauce.

"So, Frisk... what's the deal here, exactly? You still haven't explained what's going on."

"Hm?" Frisk looked up from his Puzzle. "What do you mean?"

"Your mom, I mean", Sue replied. "Unless there was some transformation magic involved, it's pretty clear she's not your _real_ mom."

"Of course she's my real mom!" Frisk replied defensively. "She's just not my _original_ mom."

"Who was your original mom, then?"

Frisk sighed sadly. "I, um... I don't really know. She disappeared when I was really little. I've been on my own for nearly as long as I can remember."

"Oh my God!" Sue gasped. "I'm so sorry, that must have been awful!"

Frisk smiled back to her. "Don't worry about it. Toriel's my _real_ mom now. I couldn't have asked for a better family."

Sue sighed. "Yeah, she seems very nice. I wish I had a mom like her."

"Why?" said Frisk. "What's wrong with your mom?"

Sue began to sweat nervously. _Uh oh. I can't tell him I ran away from home. If I get sent back, mom is gonna kill me when I return!_

"I'm an orphan, too." The lie slipped out of her mouth with startling ease. Sue hoped that it sounded convincing enough. "My parents thought I was too much trouble, so they got rid of me."

"Oh my God!" Frisk gapsed. "Is that why you had so many scrapes when I found you?"

"Uh... Yeah."

Without another word, Frisk climbed up onto the couch next to Sue and hugged her tightly, pulling her in so close that she could feel his own heartbeat.

"It's okay Sue, I understand. Everything's going to be fine now."

"Y-yeah", Sue stuttered. "Thanks."

"Is everything okay, children?"

Toriel entered the room, an expression of concern across her face.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Sue said. "Do you think you could let go of me now, Frisk?"

Frisk released Sue from his hug, smiling back at Toriel gently. "Hey mom, Sue says she doesn't have a home to go back to. Do you think she can live with us?"

Toriel gasped. "Oh my! I had no idea! Of course she can stay with us!"

Sue's began to panic. "Huh? Hey wait, hold on! That really isn't necessary! I can take care of myself!"

"Don't be silly!" Toriel replied. "I couldn't in good conscience leave you all alone with nowhere to go. Come, why don't you join Frisk and I in the dining room? I've made lunch for you two."

Hearing the mention of food caused Sue's stomach to rumble loudly, reminding her that she hadn't actually eaten breakfast that morning.

"You know what, that sounds good." _I'll worry about telling the truth later._

* * *

Sue sat next to Frisk at the table, where a ceramic plate had been placed in front of each of them, alongside a glass of water. A third plate and glass were set across the table, in front of an empty chair.

Toriel entered from the kitchen nearby, carrying a larger platter with three sandwiches on them.

"Sue, do you prefer egg salad or tofu?"

Sue shrugged. "Either one is fine. I don't really have a preference."

"Oh, wonderful! I actually didn't have enough of either to make sandwiches, so I made sandwiches with both egg salad and tofu." She placed the platter on the center of the table, placing one of the three sandwiches on each plate. "I hope that's alright with both of you."

"Of course!" said Frisk.

Sue shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

As Frisk and Toriel eagerly dug into their meal, Sue simply stared at her sandwich in puzzlement. She slowly picked it up and took a small bite, chewing her food carefully.

 _Huh. Strange combination, but I think I like it_.

When she swallowed the bite she took out of her sandwich, however, something strange happened. The moment it passed her gullet, the food suddenly disappeared, as though it had never existed at all. Her stomach was no more full than it was before, and yet somehow she felt more satiated.

"G-Gah!" Sue exclaimed. "What's up with this weird food?"

"Is something wrong?" said Toriel. "Do you not like it?"

"It's not bad, actually", replied Sue. "It's just that it disappears for some reason as soon as I swallow. Normally it's supposed to digest first."

"Digest?" Toriel puzzled. "What is that?"

"Um... you know what, don't worry about it!" Sue laughed nervously. "I, uh, I think I like it better this way!"

"Oh, that's good! You had me worried for a second there! I'd hate to be a poor cook!"

Frisk raised an eyebrow, looking at Sue with heavy suspicion.

* * *

After her lunch, Sue spent the rest of her day playing board games in the living room with Frisk and helping him solve jigsaw puzzles. The board games weren't especially interesting to her: several of the pieces of each game were missing, and some games even lacked rules sheets, forcing them to make up the rules as they went along. The puzzles were even less interesting, as most of them were unsolvable due to the pasta sauce that had somehow stained many of the pieces. Sue would have rather been sparring with Frisk outside, like she used to do with her brother before she was transformed. Or watching anime, as she had started doing when going outside was no longer an option. Frisk didn't have a television, however, so anime was out of the question, and she didn't think Frisk would be the type to enjoy sparring.

Still, despite finding their activities tedious, she could tell that playing with Frisk made him happy, and that was all Sue needed.

As the day drew to a close, Frisk withdrew to his bedroom, and Toriel went inside to tuck him in. With a yawn, Sue climbed up onto the couch on the living room, lying down and resting her head on one of the armrests.

Toriel soon entered the living room and gave Sue a pitiful look. "I'm sorry I do not have a room for you. I was not anticipating having someone else staying here. Do you want me to get you a blanket?"

"Hey, don't worry about it", Sue reassured. "I'll be fine with the couch."

"If you say so", replied Toriel. "But I can't let you sleep there forever. I have been planning on fixing up this house for a while. Perhaps I should see if I could add a new room?"

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course!" said Toriel. She leaned in and gently kissed Sue on the forehead. "Good night, my child."

As Toriel exited the room and turned off the lights, Sue suddenly felt an intense pang of guilt wash over her. Toriel was willing to provide her with every amount of hospitality she could give, and it was all because of a lie.

 _My mom must be so worried about me_ , she thought, before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Hate. Hate.

How long had it been since he was killed? One year? Many years? He couldn't tell. In this state of existence, time was meaningless to him.

Hate. Hate.

His body, destroyed. Yet his soul, still persisting. Trapped between life and death.

Hate. Hate.

It was unfair. He was so close to achieving his goal. He had seen the flowers. His spirit had filled the body of his pawn, and he would be unstoppable.

Hate. Hate.

But cruelly, fate snatched victory away just when it was in his reach. Forcibly expunged from his new vessel.

Hate. Hate.

It was a soldier from the surface who had dealt the final blow. A soldier loyal to humankind. A soldier who fought for the village.

Hate. Hate.

Ever since then, he had suffered this cursed existence. Every moment wracked with agony. Only hatred sustained him now.

Hate. Hate.

But now he began to feel something else. Something unlike hatred, but powerful all the same. He felt stronger, filled with new resolve.

Hate. Hate.

 _Determination._


	6. Chapter 5

Sue woke up the next morning after a long, dreamless sleep. She let out a loud yawn as she slowly dragged herself upright and stepped lazily off of the couch. She felt like she had barely slept at all, despite having had slept for at least several hours.

Scratching herself behind her ear, she she wandered groggily into the kitchen, where a pleasant and familiar smell wafted across her nostrils. Toriel was happily standing over the stove, cooking with a cast-iron skillet.

"Hey, are those pancakes?"

"Oh! Good morning, my child!" Toriel greeted. "How did you sleep last night? The couch was not too uncomfortable for you, was it?"

"Not at all," Sue replied. "Is breakfast going to be ready soon? I'm famished."

"Of course! Why don't you check on Frisk and see if he's awake? Tell him breakfast will be ready in a few minutes."

* * *

Breakfast that morning was even more delicious than she had anticipated. She bit ravenously into the pancake piece at the end of her fork, barely even bothering to chew. Within a minute, the pancakes on her plate had completely disappeared. Feeling fully satiated, she let out a loud belch.

Frisk and Toriel both stared at Sue from across the table in astonishment.

"Oh! Um... Excuse me!" Sue said in embarrassment.

" _Jeez,_ Sue!" Frisk exclaimed. "You're like a pancake vacuum! I'm not even halfway finished yet!"

"Well, uh..." Sue replied nervously, "to be fair, they _are_ really delicious."

"So you like them, then?" Toriel asked.

"Yeah!" said Sue. "They're _really_ good. Almost as good as my br-"

Sue abruptly cut herself off, and her heart immediately sank. _Kazuma's pancakes..._

An expression of concern crossed Toriel's face. "Are you alright, my child?"

"I'm fine," Sue replied glumly. "Thanks for the breakfast."

Without another word, she cleared her plate and left the kitchen.

* * *

Sue stood outside the house, staring deeply into the woods. The morning sun brought its light from the sky at a low angle, with sunbeams filtering through the branches of the tall trees surrounding the clearing.

Sue let out a deep sigh. _It's been a whole day. I can't imagine how my mom and brother must feel, not knowing that I'm safe. What if they never find me? What if they think I'm dead?_

She stared outwards and contemplated the forest in front of her. _Should I tell Frisk and Toriel the truth?_ _Should I try to find my way back home by myself?_ _If I tell the truth will they be mad at me? Will they miss me if I leave?_

"Hey Sue, are you alright?"

"Huh?" Sue heard the door open and shut behind her, and looked back to see Frisk standing just outside the front door.

"Mom's looking for you. She's gotten kind of worried after you left breakfast."

"Worried? Why would she be worried?"

"Come on Sue, I'm not an idiot," Frisk replied. "I can tell something's bothering you."

Sue hesitated for a moment. "It's my family. My brother used to make pancakes for me. I couldn't help but be reminded of him when I ate this morning."

"You had a brother?" said Frisk. "What happened to him?"

Sue began to panic. _Oh crap, why didn't I think this through? I can't tell him the truth yet, he'll be so mad at me!_

"He um... died. In a fire."

"Wow, really?" said Frisk. "I'm sorry to hear that. You must really miss him, huh?"

"Yeah..." Sue replied wistfully. "We used to spend so much time playing with each other. On a nice day we used to go outside and spar with each other. We'd pretend we were anime characters and then we'd fight." Sue gave off a grin. "It usually ended with me beating my brother."

Frisk raised an eyebrow. "You hurt your brother for fun?"

"Huh? No!" Sue replied defensively. "I mean, he ended up with some bruises, but I never _hurt_ him hurt him. It was all in good fun!"

"Makes sense, I guess. Why don't you go inside and tell mom you're alright?"

Sue nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea for now." She turned around and followed Frisk back into the house.

* * *

Over the next several hours, nothing particularly eventful happened. She played board games and solved jigsaw puzzles with Frisk, just as she had the day before. She'd surprised herself by actually managing to solve one of the jigsaw puzzles despite the splotches of marinara sauce that had stained the pieces until they were unrecognizable. Granted, it had taken some elbow grease to get them them to fit together, but the result was something that at least resembled a completed puzzle.

As the afternoon began to wear down, Toriel entered the living room, where Sue and Frisk had set up another board game on the floor in front of the fireplace, and were sitting down trying to figure out the rules.

"Excuse me children, I hate to interrupt, but would you mind moving your board game out of the way? I was going to see if I could get a fire started."

"Sure thing, mom", said Frisk. "I was about to win anyway."

"No you weren't!" said Sue. "You were totally breaking the rules!"

Frisk grinned. "You're just saying that because we're making the rules up as we go along and I'm winning."

"Yeah, well it's still cheating!" Sue pouted.

"Children, please, there's no need for you to fight", Toriel assured. "I'm sure you can agree on the rules some other time. In the meantime, would you please do as I asked?"

"Fine," Sue groaned. "But I'll get you next time, Frisk!"

"Heh. Sure you will," Frisk replied.

The two of them folded the playing board and picked up the cards and game pieces into the box. With the game packed up, Frisk carried the box into the next room and placed it on a bookshelf, atop a number of other board games and puzzles that were present. As Frisk went to put the game away, Toriel stood across the fireplace, and with a wave of her hand, it ignited into a roaring flame.

Sue gaped at Toriel in awe. "Whoa! How did you do that?"

"Oh?" said Toriel. "You mean to tell me you've not seen fire magic before?"

"Well, I've seen magic, but not like _that_ ", said Sue.

"Ah, I see," Toriel replied. "You must not have gotten the chance to learn it. Would you like me to teach you?"

Sue's eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh my God! You'd do that? You'd teach me magic?"

"Of course!" Toriel replied. She sat down on the couch across the room from the fireplace and patted the seat next to her. "Come, why don't you sit down and I'll show you?"

Sue rushed over to the couch as quickly as she could manage, taking a seat beside Toriel.

"Well, you're quite eager to learn, aren't you?" said Toriel.

"Oh my God, yes!" Sue squealed. "I never thought I'd live to see the day where I could use magic myself! This is so exciting!"

"I'm glad you're excited, but let's not get too carried away", said Toriel. "Why don't we start you off with something simple?" Toriel waved her hand, and the fire in the fireplace abruptly extinguished itself. "We'll start with lighting the fireplace."

"And how do I do that?"

Toriel placed a hand on Sue's shoulder. "First, clear your head of distractions and focus your mind inward. Concentrate your thoughts on the harmony of your body and soul."

"Alright. I'll try..." Sue took a deep breath and closed her eyes, attempting to rid herself of any stray thoughts that would break her concentration. She turned her own thoughts to her body, and became acutely aware of herself: every breath, every heartbeat, and every sensation against her skin. She soon became aware of something else within herself as well. It was a powerful presence deep within her being, and she felt it swelling up inside of her chest, filling her with determination.

"Good", said Toriel. "Now open your hand and hold your palm upwards."

"Like this?" said Sue, turning her palm towards the ceiling.

"Yes, very good. Now you must call upon the power that lies deep within your soul. Imagine yourself holding a burning flame. Think of something that's hotter than the hottest thing you've ever felt. Imagine its heat contained within the palm of your hand."

Sue concentrated, thinking of the most painful, blistering heat that she could. She thought of the time that she had accidentally burned herself on one of her mother's bunsen burners. She thought of volcanoes, of molten lava, of blazing forest fires, and of the surface of the sun itself. The feeling within her chest reacted, and she felt it send a wave of heat down her arm, eventually collecting into the palm of her hand.

Sue opened her eyes, and gasped at what she saw. Floating just above her open palm was a small fireball, crackling with supernatural heat.

"Holy crap... I did it! I actually did it!"

"Great job!" Toriel congratulated. "Now, why don't you try throwing it at the fireplace and lighting the fire?"

"Wait, what?" Sue interjected. "You can't be serious, can you? What if I miss? What if I damage the house?"

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that, my child," said Toriel. "It's your first spell, so it shouldn't be too much trouble. If worse comes to worse, I'll simply put it out myself."

"Alright," said Sue apprehensively. "If you're sure about this..." She gave the fireball an underhanded lob, sending it flying directly towards the firewood.

 ** _BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM._**

In a single instant, the entire fireplace was suddenly engulfed in a massive burst of flame, blinding Sue with intense light and deafening her from the sound of the explosion. When her senses finally recovered, what she saw before her caused her jaw to drop.

Not only had the fireplace been completely obliterated, most of the wall was gone, with a giant, gaping hole that led directly to the house's exterior, and both the interior of the room and the grass outside the wall stained with soot.

"Holy crap..." Sue gaped, the smell of burnt fur overwhelming her nostrils. "D-did I do that? Toriel, are you okay?"

Toriel coughed loudly, forcibly expunging the ash that had lodged itself into her lungs. Her entire body was covered in soot, but she appeared otherwise unharmed.

"I... I'm alright," she replied, voice laden with panic. "You stay right there, I need to go out and get help. Don't move, alright?" Briefly wiping some of the ashes off of her dress, she quickly got off of the couch and exited the house through the hole in the wall.

"Toriel, wait!" Sue called.

"I said, don't move!" Toriel shouted back, already having made her way to clearing outside. "And don't you even think about using magic ever again!" Without another word, she hurried out of the clearing and out of sight.

Sue could only stare in shock, still unable to comprehend what had just happened. How could her magic be so powerful on her first try?

"So you have a human soul."

Sue nearly jumped in her seat at the sudden voice. She turned to see Frisk standing in the doorway to another room, glaring at her intensely.

"What? What do you mean?"

"A human soul," said Frisk. "There's no way your magic could possibly be so powerful otherwise. You have one, don't you?"

"Well, that's an odd way of putting it, but..." Sue sighed. "...yeah. It's true. You caught me."

"I thought so." Frisk's glare hardened further, giving Sue a menacing look. "So who did you kill to get it?"


	7. Chapter 6

"Now hold on a minute!" Sue shouted. "What do you _mean_ 'who did I kill?'" The hole burned into the wall produced a peculiar effect on the room's acoustics, causing Sue's words to echo into the forest beyond.

"It's a pretty straightforward question", Frisk replied. "I don't see how you'd misunderstand."

"So you're calling me a _murderer_ , then? I can't believe this!"

"Just answer the question," Frisk insisted. "Who did you kill?"

"I've never killed anyone! I've never really even hurt anyone in my life!" Sue forcefully replied. "Well, okay, I _did_ sometimes leave a few bruises on my brother when we fought each other..."

Frisk raised an eyebrow. "So your brother's a human? And you killed him?"

"Huh?Yes! I mean no!" Sue frantically stumbled over her own words. "I mean, yes my brother's a human, but I didn't kill him!"

"Look," Frisk sighed, "this is getting ridiculous. It'd be a lot easier for me to forgive you if you just come clean."

"For the last time, I don't have anything to come clean about! I've never killed anyone!"

"Look, do you take me for some kind of idiot?" Frisk said, finally beginning to raise his voice. "I _know_ you killed someone. There's no other way you could have obtained a human soul."

" _What!?_ " Sue exclaimed. "That's completely ridiculous! You really _are_ an idiot, aren't you!?"

"Are you saying you know something about obtaining a human soul that I don't?"

" _YES!_ " Sue screamed at the top of her lungs. " _I have a human soul because I was BORN human, you jerk! It wasn't until a year ago that I was transformed by a stupid curse!"_

"…"

The room went quiet the wake of Sue's sudden outburst, with no sound heard save for her own intense breathing. Frisk simply stared back at her.

"Oh. Um… I guess that's not really so obvious, is it?" Sue said meekly.

Frisk said nothing, simply pointing towards the hole in the wall.

"Huh?" Sue turned her head towards the opening, and saw Toriel standing at the entrance, hands clasped over her mouth in shock. Standing beside Toriel the short and stocky skeleton dressed in a hoodie that Sue had recognized the night two days previous, staring at her quizzically.

"Uh... hi Toriel!" Sue spoke apprehensively. "Who's your friend? You two, uh... you didn't happen to overhear our conversation, did you?"

"'Fraid so", said the skeleton. "You can call me Sans. Tori told me you blew up her wall, so I came to check it out. Why don't we go into another room so we can sit down and talk?"

Sue gulped. _I am going to be in SO much trouble now..._

* * *

Sue shifted nervously in her seat at the kitchen table, with Frisk sitting beside her. Toriel sat comfortably across from them both, while Sans had positioned himself in the chair next to Toriel, leaning back with his feet on the table.

"So, kid..." said Sans. "...just checking, you _are_ a kid, right?"

"Yeah," said Sue, "of course I am."

"Gotcha. Hard to tell since you don't have a striped shirt."

"Huh?" Sue replied, baffled.

"Eh, never mind", replied Sans. "Anyway kid, you said you used to be human, but were turned into a monster by a curse. Is that right?"

"Hey! I'm not a monster, I'm a mimiga!" Sue replied defensively. "Wait, _are_ mimigas monsters?"

"Yes," answered Toriel. "You did not know that?"

Sue shrugged. For a brief moment, she wondered how Toriel knew the answer to her question, but she disregarded the stray thought. "I never really thought about it that much, to be honest. I've mostly been concerned with finding a way to reverse the spell that transformed me."

"I was just about to get to that, actually," said Sans. "It's interesting you say that you were transformed by a spell, because that shouldn't be possible. Humans and monsters are too different."

"Wait, really?" said Sue.

"Yup", replied Sans. "Someone with the power to turn humans into monsters would have to have some ridiculously strong magic. It's pretty hard to believe anyone on the surface could have such immense power."

Frisk looked at Sue distrustfully. "He's right, I _don't_ believe it. In fact, I've never heard of anyone on the surface having real magic at all. I think you're full of it, Sue."

"Frisk! Don't be rude!" Toriel chastised. "You apologize to her this instant!"

"Aww, mom! Come on!" Frisk moaned. "You don't actually buy her story, do you?"

Toriel suddenly gave Frisk a stern glare, and Frisk flinched beneath its crushing weight.

"Okay, okay, I get it", he begrudgingly submitted. "Sorry, Sue."

"It's alright", Sue admitted. "I can understand perfectly if you don't trust me. This whole time, I haven't exactly been telling you the truth." She gave a brief glance at each of the others sitting at the table, and they looked back at her expectantly.

Sue felt a pit begin to form in her stomach, and let out a deep, heavy sigh. "The truth is, I'm not actually an orphan at all. My mom and brother are still alive, and I've been living with them as long as I can remember. I ran away from home, and I told my parents were dead so I wouldn't have to go back."

"Oh my goodness!" Toriel gasped.

"Geez kid, don't you think your family must be worried about you?" said Sans.

Tears began to well up in Sue's eyes. "I... I know," she whispered.

"So why did you run away?" asked Frisk.

"I... I just wanted to see the sun again!" Sue cried out. "It had been so long since I'd breathed fresh air! I hadn't been outdoors in over a year!" She sobbed loudly, no longer able to hold back the flood of emotion. "E-ever since I was transformed, my mom forced me to stay indoors! She said it was too dangerous to leave the house, since people might be afraid of me! When the monsters started appearing yesterday, I saw how friendly they were being with humans, and I thought it might be my chance to go outside again! But my mom said no, so I ran away!"

Sue hiccuped slightly, her body shivering from the sudden intensity of her outburst. Her vision had now been nearly entirely blurred from the tears, leaving the fur on her face damp and matted. She wiped off her eyes with her forearm, ignoring the irritation it caused.

Suddenly, she felt the warmth of someone else's hand resting on her shoulder. She turned to see Frisk gazing at her sympathetically.

"H-huh?"

Without another word, Frisk scooted his chair closer. He pulled Sue in, wrapping his arms around her tightly. For several moments they held their embrace, before Sue pulled herself away.

"You're not mad at me for lying to you?"

"Not really," said Frisk. "Sure, I wish you'd told me sooner, but it looks like you've had it pretty rough. I can't really be angry at you for that."

"Yeah... it's been something," replied Sue. The corners of her mouth curved upwards into a gentle smile. "I think I'm going to be okay, though."

Toriel looked at Sue worriedly. "Sue, where is your real family right now? We need to contact them let them know you're alright."

"H-hey, hold on!" Sue panicked. "Can't it wait just a little bit?"

"Absolutely not!" Toriel said firmly. "We must inform them right away!"

"Now hold on Toriel," said Sans. "Don't you think the kid's a little bit stressed out right now? Maybe we should wait for things to calm down a bit first before making her even more anxious."

"What? But Sans, surely you would agree that her family must know she's unharmed?" Toriel implored.

"Of course they should", Sans replied. "I've no doubt in my mind Sue will tell us how to reach them when she's ready. For now I'm interested in hearing how she was transformed. Like I said, it would take some pretty ludicrous magic to do that sort of thing. To have that sort of power, you'd have to be a monster with..." Sans began gesturing with his fingers as though he were counting something. "...two human souls, at the least. That'd be the same as taking the magical power of a monster with one human soul and multiplying it by itself." Sans gave Sue a curious look. "You said you were transformed a year ago, right?"

"Um... yeah," Sue replied hesitantly.

"That's interesting," said Sans, "because as far as I know there weren't any monsters on the surface a year ago. So what's the deal, exactly?"

Sue gave Sans a sly grin. "Well... I never said it was a monster who transformed me. And I never said it happened on the surface, either."

A wide range of expressions suddenly flashed across the others at the table, ranging from surprise, to shock, to utter bewilderment.

"Huh?" said Sans.

"What?" said Toriel.

"How?" said Frisk

"It's a long story," replied Sue. "I'm not sure if I'm even supposed to tell you about it, since not many people know about the Island in the Sky. But I can't really hide it from you any longer, so I'll tell you what happened while I was there."

Toriel let out a soft gasp. "Did you say... Island in the Sky?"

"Yup!" Sue boasted. "It's exactly what it sounds like: an island floating in the sky. Not many people know about it, and those that do think it's just a legend, but it's real and I've been there. I went with my mom and brother on an expedition to study the Island's history, culture, and ecosystem, along with several other researchers. Things were going pretty smoothly, but then one of our team betrayed us."

"What happened?" Frisk asked. "Was everyone alright?"

"For the most part, yeah", said Sue. "Things were pretty rough for a while, though. The man who betrayed us was Fuyuhiko Date, but everyone just called him the Doctor. Turns out he'd only applied to the research team to begin with so he could get his hands on the Demon Crown, an evil artifact on the Island that grants powerful magic to anyone who wears it."

"Demon Crown?" Toriel uttered. "I don't understand..."

"Well, not a lot is understood about it", Sue continued. "My brother said the earliest historical records that mention its existence are from around 500 years ago, long after most of the Island's inhabitants were settled. We don't know if that's when it was first created, or if that's when it was first discovered. And we don't know who created it or why. There have been multiple wars on the Island over the Demon Crown's power since then, including an invasion as recently as ten years before our expedition."

"An invasion?" asked Frisk. "How come I haven't heard of that?"

"Like I said, the Island's existence is unknown to most people", Sue continued. "We're not even sure how the Doctor managed to learn of the Demon Crown beforehand, and he seemed to know a lot more about it than any of us did. Based on what he'd said about it, I suspect that it has some connection to the immortal witch named Misery. From what I can tell, she's forced to obey whoever wears the Crown. She's also the one who turned me into a mimiga at the Doctor's orders, as well as another researcher named Itoh."

"Jeez..." said Sans. "She must be ridiculously tough, then. You said she's not a monster, so I'm assuming Misery is human, right?"

Sue hesitated. "I... well, I was going to say "yes" for a second, but thinking about it some more I'm not actually sure. She _looks_ human, but her powers are far beyond anything that's humanly possible. She'd probably be a lot more dangerous than she was if she weren't forced to obey the Doctor. I think her true power was restrained by the Demon Crown somehow."

"And what did you call the kind of monster she turned you into?" asked Frisk. "A mimiga, right?"

"Yeah. There's a whole village of them on the Island," Sue repled. "There were other monsters living there too, but they weren't really involved in the conflict that broke out when the Doctor got his hands on the Demon Crown. He was most interested in the mimigas so he could enslave them for his own personal army."

"Oh no! Are they okay?" Toriel exclaimed.

"For the most part, yeah. But quite a few of them were lost in the process," Sue explained. "Thankfully we were able to put a stop to the Doctor's plans, with the help of a soldier from the surface. The Demon Crown was destroyed, and the Island is safe. Two of our researchers stayed behind to keep an eye on the Island in the aftermath and help the mimigas rebuild, and from what I've heard things are going smoothly. Misery hasn't bothered anyone since, which is good because there wouldn't be much any of us could do if she decided to cause trouble again."

"This... all sounds pretty hard to believe, I'll admit," said Frisk. "But it does sound like you're telling the truth."

"It is a lot to take in, huh?" Sans added. "Whatever the case, it's better than no explanation at all. What do you think we should do with the kid now, Tori?"

Toriel said nothing, her face frozen in stunned silence. She clasped her hand over her mouth, tears beginning to well in the corners of her eyes.

"Huh, Tori?" said Sans. "Toriel, are you okay?"

"They were supposed to be safe there," Toriel whispered. "How could I let this happen?"

"Could you say that again? I couldn't quite catch that," Sans gently responded.

Toriel quickly regained her composure, and smiled warmly. "Ah... you do not need to worry about me, Sans. I was just thinking about something else."

Sans's grin widened. "Alright, but if you ever feel the need to talk to me, I'm here _tibia_ friend!"

Toriel blinked. "Tibia? Oh! _Oh!_ I get it!" She suddenly burst out in laughter, giggling uncontrollably. "Oh Sans, you're such a _comic!_ "

"Hey, that's a good one!" Sans cheered. "Wait, I have another one! What do skeletons order at restaurants?"

"What?" said Toriel.

" _Spare ribs!_ **"**

The two suddenly burst into laughter, the room filling with the cacophonous sound of their amusement.

Sue frowned in exasperation. "Are they _always_ like this?"

"Pretty much," sighed Frisk.

"I think I'm ready to go home now," Sue groaned.


	8. Chapter 7

Sue drummed her fingers against the kitchen table, her boredom apparent in the way she propped her head up with her other elbow. Frisk sat next to her, solving what appeared to be some sort of junior jumble, while Toriel sat across from them both, reading a book about flowers.

There wasn't much else she could do at the moment. Sure, she could try making small talk, but she was never very good at that. And she could find something to do in another room, but all of the interesting things were in the living room. The room she'd nearly destroyed.

"Alright, finished," Sans called from the other room. "Why don't you all come in and take a look?"

"Finally," Sue sighed in relief.

Without hesitating, she scurried out of her seat and followed Sans's voice, Frisk and Toriel soon following after her. They entered into the living room, and Sue was somewhat impressed by what she saw. Not only had the wall and fireplace been completely repaired, but every bit of soot and ash had been cleaned, leaving the room looking literally good as new. Sans was reclining on the couch opposite the fireplace, leaning his head against the armrest.

"Goodness, everything looks exactly the way it was before!" Toriel complimented. "You must have worked very hard, Sans!"

"That's not a sentence I ever expected to hear in my lifetime," Frisk remarked.

"Hey, I can do work when I need to," said Sans. "Sometimes. Maybe."

"How did you even manage to do this so fast?" Sue asked.

Sans raised his arm into the air and twirled his fingers. " _Maaaaagic._ "

Sue frowned in irritation. "Come on, that's not an explanation and you know it."

"It's magic, I don't have to explain it," Sans retorted.

"What? Yes you do! That's not how that works!" Sue huffed. "Ugh, nevermind, it doesn't matter anyway. Didn't you say you'd help me get back home when you were finished fixing the wall?"

"I guess I did say that," said Sans. He slowly shifted his weight, slowly sitting himself upright on the couch before standing up. "But before you go, Sue, I'm going to need to ask you a favor. I don't really like doing that kind of thing, but it's sort of important."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Don't _ever_ try using your magic again, alright?" Sans said, staring directly into Sue's eyes. "I know it might seem tempting to have that much power at your disposal, but if you ever use it and anyone finds out... _everyone_ is gonna have a bad time."

Sue gulped. For a brief moment, the lights in Sans's eye sockets had vanished, leaving nothing behind but pure blackness. She felt a shiver run down her spine, as though she had gazed directly into the abyss. She shuddered at the thought of just what this "bad time" would be.

"Sans, don't be rude!" Toriel chastised. "You're scaring her!"

"But mom, he's right, isn't he?" Frisk added. "Weren't humans afraid what would happen if a monster had a human soul? Isn't that why you were in the Underground to begin with?"

"Yes, that is true," Toriel admitted. "But that's no reason to go about frightening a child. All you needed to do was explain it to her, Sans!"

Sans winced, as though he had suddenly been struck. "I... I'm sorry Toriel. I just _really_ can't stress this enough. Everyone's finally happy now, and from the looks of it we're going to be able to integrate into human society fairly smoothly. But if something goes wrong enough to provoke the human's fears, it's not going to end well for us. We were lucky enough to avoid being driven to extinction last time, but that was before the humans had guns, bombs, and _armies of_ _soulless killer robots_ at their disposal." He sighed deeply, a look of fatigue apparent in his eye sockets. "I can't afford not to care about us anymore."

"Sans, don't worry about it," Frisk reassured. "If anything bad happens, I can go back and stop it."

"Not this time," Sans replied dejectedly. "The only reason you could reset in the Underground is that there weren't any other humans around, so your determination overwhelmed the local timeline. But now we're in a world populated by _billions_ of humans, and everyone's determination cancels out everyone else's. Simply put, it's impossible for you to reset as long as there are other humans who want to hold on to their lives and accomplishments. Which in practice means you can't reset, _period_."

Frisk immediately looked taken aback by that statement, as though he'd heard something completely shocking and unexpected. Sue, bewildered by the topic altogether, glanced around the room incredulously. "What the heck are you guys talking about? I feel like I'm out of the loop here."

"I am not entirely certain myself," Toriel added. "I feel like I've heard of 'resetting' somewhere, but I do not recall what it means."

Sans gave out another sigh. "Listen, don't worry about it. It involves a lot of science stuff you probably wouldn't get. Sue, I just need you to promise me that you'll _never_ use your magic. No matter what. Can you do that for me?"

Sue felt a slight pang of disappointment at the idea of never being able to use her magic, a power which she was still thoroughly fascinated by. But her concern for her new friends far outweighed it, and she gave them a nod. "Alright, I promise."

"And Frisk?" Sans added. "I need you to promise me you won't do anything reckless. You won't be able to escape from the consequences this time. Do you understand that?"

"R-right." Frisk stuttered. "I understand."

"Great," said Sans. "And I'm going to hold you both to that, you hear? But I'm getting ahead of myself. Where exactly do you live, Sue? Can you tell us how to get there?"

Sue hesitated. "I don't know exactly," she admitted. "I kind of lost track of where I was going when I got here."

"Can you at least tell me your address, then?" said Sans.

"Sure, it's 122004 Pixel Avenue," replied Sue.

Sans's grin widened. "Yeah, I think I know where that is. Come on everyone, I know a shortcut." He walked to the other side of the room and opened the door facing opposite the rest of the group.

"Sans, that's the door to the bedroom hallway," said Sue. "The front door is the other way."

"Oh, you've never taken one of Sans's shortcuts?" said Toriel. "There's no need to worry, they save quite a lot of time. Come, children, we don't want to keep him waiting."

Toriel held out both her hands, grabbing Frisk's hand in one and Sue's in the other. Sue begrudgingly allowed Toriel to lead them through the doorway as Sans held it upon for them. As soon as they crossed through the doorway's threshold, however, everything suddenly changed.

Sue stood flabbergasted at the sight before her. Rather than being in the bedroom hall, she was standing alongside Toriel and Frisk just outside her front lawn. Her house looked almost exactly as she'd left it before: a simple, nondescript two-story home with a well-kept lawn. She could even see the window that she'd jumped out from, still broken from her dangerous stunt, and the bed of buttercups just below, which remained mostly crushed from the impact.

Sue had so many questions, but all she could coherently speak was a single word. "How?"

"It's a shortcut," said Sans, who was suddenly standing right beside them. "I don't have to explain it."


	9. Chapter 8

Asgore behind a podium atop a large stage, a crowd of human reporters seated before him. Behind him was a purple stage curtain bearing the Delta Rune, the official symbol of the Dreemur family.

"... I have spoken with the prime minister of the Sunrise Islands, and he intends to propose a plan allowing some of the monsters to live here. However, as overpopulation was already a strong concern for this nation, we have entered into talks with other nations for the possibility of accepting monster emigrants. Currently we are in negotiations with Eagleand..."

A grating voice suddenly called from behind the curtain. "Hey Asgore, when am I going to get a chance to speak?"

Asgore grimaced, massaging his forehead with his palm. "Papyrus, I am in the middle of a press conference!"

"Yes, but aren't I supposed to be the one establishing our relations with the humans? I am _Amassador_ Papyrus, after all!"

Asgore turned around and shouted back behind the curtain. "You'll get your turn later! Right now I am in the middle of one of the most important public addresses in my lifetime! And do you have any _idea_ how long I've lived?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Papyrus, let Asgore finish his speech!" a powerful female voice called from behind the curtain.

"Oh, alright," Papyrus finally yielded. "But mark my words Undyne, one day the world will know of the Great Ambassador Papyrus, and humans will understand just how _cool_ monsters are! Not that any other monster is as cool as I am, but they're still pretty cool!"

"Papyrus, all you're doing right now is making monsters look childish and unprofessional! So do us all a favor and _keep your freaking yap shut!_ "

"Okie dokie!" Papyrus cheerfully responded.

Asgore sighed in frustration, giving a weary look to the bewildered journalists. "I am _deeply_ sorry about this. Now, as I was saying..."

* * *

Sue never thought that the sight of her own home could be so intimidating. It was by no means a large house, nor was it particularly different from any of the others, yet it felt like she was staring upwards at a towering mansion. It was probably just her overactive imagination, but it seemed that the skies grew darker the longer she looked at it.

"Come, Sue," said Toriel. "You do not want to keep your family waiting, do you?"

"W-well, no..." Sue hesitated. "It's just, um..."

"You're a little nervous," Sans finished. "I get that. You're afraid they'll be mad at you."

"Yeah," Sue admitted.

"Tell you what, why don't we go to the door together?" said Frisk. "We'll be right there with you, so you don't need to be so nervous."

Sue let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "A-alright. No use putting it off, I guess. Let's go."

Sue slowly made her way to the door, with Toriel and Sans following right next to her. Without even realizing it, she'd grabbed Toriel's hand, holding onto it as she approached. As she reached the front steps just outside the door, she hesitated. A deep feeling of anxiety welled up inside of her, and she gripped Toriel's hand even tighter.

Toriel looked down at her worriedly. "Are you alright, Sue?"

Sue hesitated. "...Yeah, I'm fine. I can do this." She took a deep breath, and with as much courage as she could muster, knocked firmly on the door.

There was no immediate response. Sue felt as though the entire world had gone quiet, as though everything else had been brought to a halt. Though it had lasted only a few moments, it felt to Sue as though it were nearly an eternity.

Finally, the door slowly began to creak open. Standing within the doorway was a young man with messy green hair. He looked absolutely frazzled, and there were visible bags beneath his eyes, as though he hadn't slept at all the previous night.

"Hello, can I help-" He immediately cut himself off as soon as he saw who was at the other side of the door. " _Sue!?_ "

Sue's eyes lit up. "Kazuma?"

Without hesitating, Kazuma reached down and pulled his sister into a hug. "Oh, thank God! We were so afraid something happened to you!"

Sue returned the hug, wrapping her arms around tightly. "It's my fault," she said. "I shouldn't have run away to begin with. I shouldn't have made you and mom worry like this."

"Well, you're home now, and that's what matters," said Kazuma. He pulled away from his embrace and looked at Sue fondly.

"Yeah, thanks," said Sue. "And I bet you _never_ gave up looking for me, right?"

Kazuma began shifting nervously. "H-huh? Well, um..." He suddenly cut himself off, taking notice of the three others Sue had arrived with. "Oh! I didn't realize there were others here! You must be... wait, monsters?"

Sans approached Kazuma and grinned. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Sans. The kid's name is Frisk, and the nice lady over there is Toriel." Sans held out his hand expectantly. Kazuma just stared for a moment, his expression somewhere between bewilderment and fear. Toriel placed her hand over her mouth, snickering quietly.

"What, aren't you going to shake my hand?" said Sans. "Don't you know how to greet a new friend?"

Kazuma reluctantly began reaching towards the skeleton's outstretched hand. Frisk's eyes, meanwhile, widened in recognition.

"Sans, wait-"

 _PBBTBBTBTBBTTBTBTBTBTBTTTBTTHTTHHHHHHT!_

As soon as Kazuma's hand touched Sans's, a loud and flatulent sound filled the air. Almost instantly, Kazuma recoiled, nearly jumping backwards in surprise. No longer able to restrain herself, Toriel immediately burst into uproarious laughter.

Sue blushed furiously, the redness in her cheeks somehow visible despite being hidden beneath a layer of white fur, and shamefully buried her face underneath her hands.

Sans grinned even wider than usual. "Heh. That gag _never_ gets old."

Frisk sighed. "I'm sorry about this. He does that to everyone he meets."

Kazuma chuckled nervously. "It's uh... not a problem. Why don't you all come inside? Since you brought Sue home, mom would probably like to meet you all."

"You're inviting us in?" said Sans. "Sweet. This looks like a nice place to hang."

"Just get us indoors," Sue groaned. "Don't make me be seen in public like this."

Kazuma moved to the side as he held the door open, allowing Sue and Sans to go inside. He continued holding the door expectantly for Toriel and Frisk to follow.

"Ah, just give me a moment," said Toriel, still breathing heavily from her fit of laughter. "I need some time to catch my breath."

"Alright," said Kazuma. "I'll leave the door unlocked. Feel free to come in when you're ready." Without another word, he closed the door and followed Sue and Sans into the house.

Frisk stared up at Toriel quizzically. "Mom, it's just a whoopee cushion. It's not _that_ funny."

Toriel frowned. "That's quite enough out of you."

Frisk rolled his eyes. "Okay, sheesh."


	10. Chapter 9

Momorin paced back in forth anxiously. The sounds of the laboratory surrounded her on all sides, drowning out her footsteps with its unyielding whirring and humming. With a sigh, she pensively surveyed her workplace.

The laboratory was her own design, made specially for the purpose of her botanical research. Numerous hydroponic tables were placed throughout, each with large numbers of leafy green plants growing out of the trays sitting atop them. Each tray was attached to a pipe system that pumped a special nutrient solution through the workstations, while bright sun lamps placed above each workstation provided the plants with light.

The lights were connected to a generator, placed on the wall farthest from the ascending staircase leading out of the basement, next to the pump that kept the nutrient solution flowing. The generator was powered by an internal turbine connected to the hydroponic piping, allowing it to generate electricity from the flow of the nutrient solution. While the pump still required electricity from the power grid, without the generator the costs of running her lab would be prohibitively high. She was grateful when Itoh had volunteered to help construct the machine: while she was competent enough with technology, most of her expertise lay elsewhere.

On the wall nearest the staircase, there was a desk with a flatscreen computer monitor placed on top of it. One one side of the desk were a series of shelves and lab benches, the former of which housed the preserved and jarred remains of plants, and the latter of which housed a number of tools to examine them. On the other side of the desk was a large teleporter pad. It was a strict upgrade from the teleporters found on the Island: it was large enough to hold up to twelve people simultaneously, and could transport them all at once to any destination with a similarly-sized transporter pad, without fear of harming its users. Next to it was a machine that resembled the older teleporter model: a transmogrifier that Professor Booster had designed in the hopes of turning Sue human again.

The advanced technology in her laboratory, however, was the least of Momorin's concerns. It had been two days since her daughter disappeared, and she had seen no sign of her since. She glanced back at the computer monitor, and in the blank screen she could catch a glimpse of her ragged hair and heavily bagged eyes. She had not slept in more than twenty-four hours, and it showed.

The screen suddenly flickered alive, the display crackling with static for a few moments, before the bespectacled face of Professor Booster appeared.

"Hello? Momorin, are you there?"

Momorin's eyes lit up. "Ah, there you are! I was wondering when you would return my message!"

"Apologies for the delay," replied Professor Booster. "We're still working on improving our communications. The Island's magic interferes with satellite signals, so it's difficult to get video calls to work long-distance." He paused, adjusting his glasses slightly. "We've gotten it to work well enough now, though the visual quality may be a bit lacking. Still, it's miles better than the antiquated chat programs the Island's computers used previously."

"Of course," said Momorin. "But let's not delay any further. I still haven't been able to get the local authorities to believe me when I tell them about my daughter. Have you heard anything from your superiors about helping us find her?"

Professor Booster frowned. "Not much, I'm afraid. They said they'll look into it, but with the amount of red tape involved it might be a while before they can do anything. Now that monsters have made themselves known to the general public, finding Sue could get a lot more complicated."

Momorin furrowed her brow in worry. "It's been two days since she ran away. How much longer will it take?"

"Erm, well..." the Professor hesitated. "...at best, I'd say it would take another three days to assemble a proper search team."

"Three days!?" Momorin cried out. "That's far too long! Where will Sue find shelter for three days? What will she eat? What if someone tries to hurt her?"

Professor Booster stared solemnly through the screen. "I'm sorry, Momorin. I don't know what else I can tell you. I can't do anything beyond request help – I simply don't have the authority or the expertise to coordinate a search any faster than this."

"Alright..." Momorin whispered, her voice trembling. "...I understand. I just worry that it's too late to do anything now. If I never see my daughter again..."

"Momorin," Professor Booster cut her off. "Don't stress yourself out like that. For God's sake, you look like you haven't slept at all in the past two days! I know you're concerned for Sue, but you need to look after yourself, too."

"I don't know..." Momorin replied hesitantly. "Kazuma said something similar last night. That at some point I'll have to accept that I've done all that I can do and move on. But just giving up like that... it seems cowardly, you know?"

"Well, I don't know if telling you to give up was his intention," said Booster. "But I do agree that you need to know your limits. I'll admit, there's no easy solution to any of this. But I do think you should try to avoid pushing yourself too. I know it's a hard thing to ask, given the circumstances, but I don't want to see you hurting yourself."

"Maybe you're right," Momorin sighed. "But I'm not giving up. I'll keep looking for my daughter, no matter how long it takes."

Professor Booster hesitated for a moment, before speaking up again."...Listen, Momorin. Your daughter's a very strong person. She's courageous, resourceful, and filled with the determination to do anything she sets her mind to. In a lot of ways, she's just like you," he chuckled. "If she can survive several weeks on the Island during Doctor Date's invasion, she can certainly survive being lost in the suburbs for a few days."

"Perhaps you are right," said Momorin. "But I still can't help but worry."

"Well," said Professor Booster, "in the meantime, I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from-"

Suddenly, a voice called from up the stairs. "Mom, I'm home!"

" _Sue!?_ " Momorin gasped.

Booster grinned. "Speak of the devil! I suppose I won't be needed after all, then! I'll tell my superiors you found her, and that there's no need for a search." The screen flickered, and the Professor's image faded away in a buzz of static.

Momorin suddenly heard the loud thumping of Sue's feet as she excitedly descended the staircase. "Hey mom, there you are!" she called.

Without even thinking, Momorin rushed over to meet her daughter at the bottom of the staircase. She kneeled down wrapped her arms around Sue, embracing her closely.

"Thank goodness you're safe! I was so worried about you..."

"Oof.. little bit tight there, mom," Sue grunted. "But... for what it's worth, I'm sorry I scared you like this. I just... I wanted to go outside so badly that I didn't even think even think about how you'd feel about it."

Momorin pulled back from her hug, leaving her hands on Sue's shoulders. She could see the sincerity in her daughters eyes as she stared back through the tears that had collected in the corners of her own.

"Please don't ever do anything like this again," Momorin pleaded. "I already came so close to losing you on the Island..."

Sue looked back into her eyes, and offered a comforting smile. "There's no need to worry about that. I'm not going to let that happen. But if it makes you feel any better, I promise I won't run away again."

Momorin smiled back. "Alright... but I'm going to hold you to that, you hear? And no television for a week."

"What? Aw, come on!" Sue protested.

"You didn't think I'd let you off completely, did you?" Momorin teased. "Now go upstairs and tell your brother to put dinner on."

"Yeah, alright," said Sue. "Oh! That reminds me! Toriel and Frisk are upstairs talking to Kazuma. You should go and meet them, they're really cool!"

Momorin blinked. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? Who are they?"

"They're my new friends," replied Sue. "Frisk found me when I ran away and took me to his house. Toriel's kind of like his mom, and she took care of me while I was away. There's also Sans, but... well, I don't really know him that well, and he's kind of annoying."

"Ouch, kid," a voice remarked. "That's pretty harsh."

"Gaaah!" Sue cried out, nearly leaping out of her fur. "When did you get here!?"

Momorin looked to see the source of the sudden voice, and stared at him blankly. "You're... a skeleton?"

"Yup," the skeleton replied. "I'm Sans. I take it you're Sue's mom?"

"Indeed, I am. You can call me Momorin."

Sans's perpetual grin widened even further, and he reached out with a bony hand. "Pleased to meet you, Momorin."

" _No!_ Don't you dare!" Sue shouted. "No whoopie cushions!"

Sans retraced his hand, placing it back into his pocket. "Eh, it was worth a shot," he shrugged. "Why don't we head upstairs? I'm sure Tori would like to meet you." He walked towards the ascending staircase and began climbing the stairs leading out of the basement, briefly turning back as he approached the door to the first floor. "By the way, this is a pretty nice lab you've got here."

"Oh, um... thank you." Momorin replied, nonplussed. Sans, however, had already gone through the doorway by that point.

Sue breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close. I just narrowly avoided more embarrassment there. Why don't we go upstairs and you can introduce yourself to everyone?"

"That sounds like a good idea," Momorin replied. "I would like to meet this Toriel person myself, if you don't mind."

"Great! Let's go, then!" Without another word, Sue raced up the staircase.

Momorin hesitated for a moment, conflicting emotions whirling through her mind.. The thought of someone taking care of her daughter caused a growing knot of discomfort to form in her stomach, yet at the same time felt deeply grateful that someone did.

As she ascended the staircase, Momorin could only hope that Toriel was a person she could trust.

* * *

A single ray of light shone through the surface above, and into the caverns of Mount Ebott. In the past, this hole in the mountain was the only thing connecting the Underground to the rest of the world. Many monsters had tried climbing the walls of the caverns, some even tried flying, but the powerful winds surrounding the opening preventing anything from escaping. Once one entered through the hole they could never leave.

Until now, that is. There was another entrance to the Underground, one that had been sealed away more than a thousand years ago by the nigh-impenetrable Barrier. But now the Barrier had been shattered, and the monsters, in their desire to see the surface, began to leave. It was a gradual process, as integration into human society took time, but every day the population still residing in the Underground grew smaller. It was only a matter of time before there wasn't a single soul remaining.

 _Not a single soul..._

He cursed the exactness of his own words. There wouldn't be a single soul in the Underground. Yet _he_ would still be there, trapped in the plantlike form he now found himself in. He could only move as far as the soil would allow him to, and the rock surrounding Mount Ebott proved too thick for him to ever leave the caverns.

"So this is it, huh? Am I just going to be trapped here forever, completely alone?" Flowey mused. Speaking aloud was more to reassure himself than anything else: it was nice to hear _someone's_ voice, even if it was only his own.

Yet the thought of being alone filled him with dread. With no soul, it wouldn't take long for him to be completely overcome with boredom. And with nobody left to keep him entertained, there would be nothing he could do to escape from it.

To make matters worse, his recent exploits had left a powerful impression on his mind. After centuries spent resetting and reloading, after countless years of manipulating time to his own ends, he had not merely lost the ability to feel empathy: he had completely forgotten what the feeling was even like to begin with. But now that memory had resurfaced, more powerful than ever, and he once again felt the overwhelming resentment at just how much he had lost. Every so often, he _thought_ he could feel something resembling compassion, but that brief feeling quickly slipped out of his grasp, leaving nothing behind but bitterness.

"What do I even have left to live for now?" he wondered. "Would it be better if I just... stopped? Is it even worth existing like this anymore?"

"Giving up so easily. How cowardly." Something spoke, reverberating deeply as though it were made of many voices at once.

Flowey yelped at the sound of the new voice. "Who said that!? Show yourself!" He quickly whipped around, searching for any sign of someone listening in.

The voice let out a deep chuckle. "As you wish."

Suddenly, the winds surrounding the hole in the cavern began to pick up, and in a rush of air, something descended into the Underground. It was unlike anything that Flowey had seen before: a swirling mass of blood-red particles, radiating with the unmistakable glow of a human soul.

"Greetings," it said.

Flowey stared at the mass in a mixture of confusion and fear. "Who... _what_ are you?"

"My name is unimportant," it replied. "Like you, I am an incomplete being. My body has been killed. Though my soul still persists, it has been broken. I cannot die, for my power is too great. Yet I cannot truly live for as long as I exist as I am now."

"And what do you want with me?" Flowey asked. "Why did you come here?"

The voice chuckled deeply. "You are a body without a soul, and I am a being without a body. It would be in our mutual interest to work together. Through you, I can truly live again. And with me, you can regain the feeling that you once lost."

"Wait..." Flowey hesitated. "Are you saying you want me to take your soul?"

"That is correct."

"Hah!" Flowey laughed dismissively. "You must really take me for an idiot, huh? Do you honestly think I'm just going to trust some... _thing_ that comes up and tells me that it wants to give me its soul? I mean, just _look_ at you! You look like some sort of blood-red demon cloud! Your voice sounds like a swarm of locusts! You couldn't _be_ any more obviously evil if you tried!"

"So you would refuse my offer, then. And what will you do when the Underground is empty?"

"H-huh?" Flowey stammered. "W-well, I haven't figured that out just yet..."

"If you do not accept my soul, you will remain alone until the end of the earth itself. Or you can simply give up and die. But if you die, whatever part of your essence that remains will vanish. You will utterly cease to exist. Either you suffer an eternity of crushing loneliness, or face the total annihilation of your being..."

Flowey gulped.

"...or you can take my soul. Be granted a second chance at life. So, _Prince Dreemurr_ , will you accept my offer?"

"What?" Flowey gasped. "N-no! Don't call me that! Asriel is _dead_ _!_ "

"And what if I told you that I could bring Asriel back?"

Flowey was stunned. For almost a full minute, he simply stared back at the red cloud, unblinking. A newfound determination soon welled up within him, and he finally replied.

"...Alright. I'm listening."


	11. Chapter 10

Kazuma stared carefully at the tea kettle as the flame below gradually heated its contents. He knew the expression that a watched pot never boils: he'd always been the one to work the stove, with his mother too busy to cook, his sister too young to try, and his father... he quickly dismissed the thought. Either way, he knew from experience that watching something cook over a stove, even if it was only boiling water, would make it seem to take longer.

And that was exactly what he'd hoped. Sitting behind him at the kitchen table was Toriel, the monster lady he'd met at the door earlier, and the human boy who'd arrived with her (was Frisk a boy? He'd assumed so, but it was hard to tell exactly). He'd never quite gotten used to interacting with non-human sapient beings, despite his experiences on the Island. And while the new visitors seemed friendly enough from first glance, the skeleton's prank had left him more than a little on edge. His offer to make them tea was more to put off any further surprises for as long as possible than anything else.

"Kazuma, why don't you come sit down and talk to us while the water's boiling?" Toriel spoke up.

"Er... there's no need," Kazuma replied. "It's almost done anyway."

Soon, after several minutes of heating, the kettle finally let out a loud whistle. After turning off the stove, Kazuma opened the kitchen cupboard and brought out some teacups, placing them on the counter next to the now-silent kettle. He reached into another cupboard, and pulled out a cardboard glass jar containing an assortment of tea bags.

"What kind of tea do you like? We have Earl Grey, oolong, chamomile..."

"Oh, any kind is fine," said Toriel. "I do not have any particular preference."

"Chamomile, please," said Frisk.

"Alright, then." Kazuma poured out three cups of hot water and placed them on the kitchen table, then grabbed three teabags and placed each of them within the cups. "There you go. Careful, it's hot." Sitting himself down at the end of the table, Kazuma regarded Toriel and the child curiously. "So, um... you're one of the monsters that appeared two days ago?"

"That is correct," said Toriel, sipping gently on her tea. "The monsters were sealed underground for a thousand years. Now that the seal is broken, we are hoping to make our home here on the surface."

"So I'd heard," said Kazuma. "The monster king said something about that in his press conference earlier today." He hesitated briefly, observing Toriel more closely. Now that he thought about it, she looked rather similar to the king. Saving the thought for later, he continued. "Listen, um... I really can't thank you enough for finding Sue. We were worried something terrible may have happened to her."

"It was no trouble, really," replied Toriel. "Frisk befriended her the other day and brought her to our home. She didn't tell us she had a family of her own on the surface at first. When we found out, I knew I had to bring her back. I wouldn't want to leave you worrying, after all."

"Well, thanks again for that," said Kazuma. "You said Frisk found her, right? What's the deal with him? Are you looking after him until you can find his parents?"

Before Toriel could reply, Frisk forcefully cut in. "I don't need to find any parents. Toriel _is_ my parent."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Said Kazuma. "Don't you have any human parents?"

"No," said Frisk. "My parents disappeared a long time ago. When Toriel found me, she was the first person who ever truly cared about me. She's the only mom I could ever hope for."

Kazuma hesitated, not knowing how to respond. All that he could think to say was a single question. "What happened?"

"Frisk fell into the caverns of Mount Ebott several weeks ago, before the Barrier was broken," said Toriel. "I've been looking after him since."

Kazuma gave Toriel a concerned look. "Aren't you worried about child services, though? I don't think they'd be too happy with you adopting a kid without the proper paperwork."

"H-huh? Child services?" Frisk blurt out in a sudden panic. "Mom, they're not going to take me away from you, are they?"

"No, my child. There is no need to worry about that," Toriel reassured. "The human authorities have already agreed to appoint me as your legal guardian as part of our negotiations."

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God..."

Kazuma's attention turned to the entrance to the kitchen, where Momorin and Sue entered alongside Sans.

"Heya," the skeleton said. "I take it you folks are getting along just fine?"

"Yeah," Kazuma replied. He eyed Sans warily, watching closely for any more tricks. "We were just talking about some things. Mom, this is Toriel and her adoptive son, Frisk. Toriel, Frisk, this is my mother, Momorin. Would you like some tea?"

"No thanks," said Sue.

"Nah, I'm good," said Sans.

"No thank you," said Momorin. She paused, staring perplexed at Toriel. "You're... a mimiga?" Toriel flinched slightly upon hearing Momorin's words.

"Mom, don't be ridiculous!" Sue chided. "Mimigas don't have horns. And they're not as big as she is. Even adult mimigas are barely any larger than I am."

"Ah, sorry!" Momorin laughed. "How silly of me. So you're the one who looked after my daughter, then?"

"That is correct," replied Toriel. "I would never abandon a child in need of care." Frisk rolled his eyes, though nobody but Kazuma seemed to notice.

"I see." Momorin relaxed slightly. "Why don't you tell us a little bit more about yourself, then? If you were kind enough to take care of Sue, then I suppose I should get to know you a little better."

"Of course," replied Toriel.

Momorin sat across from Toriel at the table, and the two of them began to converse, eagerly chatting with one another. Eventually, Frisk had finished his own cup of tea and left for the living room with Sue, where Sans had watched over them both as they played a video game. Judging by Sue's shouts of frustration, Frisk seemed to learn how to win very quickly.

Kazuma observed silently as Toriel and Momorin talked for a while about their interests. Kazuma's mother listened patiently as Toriel talked at length about snails, which she seemed to be quite knowledgable about. In turn, Momorin gave her advice on how to grow plants that would attract snails. Toriel seemed very eager to learn more about plant care, asking how to raise certain breeds of flowers in her house, and Momorin was more than happy to explain how to grow plants more effectively. Overall, it seemed that the two of them had grown fond of each other very quickly.

Suddenly, Momorin let out a yawn. "Oh dear, it's getting rather late, isn't it?"

"Late?" said Toriel. "It is only three in the afternoon. Are you feeling alright?"

"Mom, you haven't slept at all in the past two days, have you?" said Kazuma. "That would explain why you're so tired."

"Two days! Oh my goodness!" Toriel exclaimed.

"Yes... it's been a long time since I slept," said Momorin. "I was so busy trying to find my daughter that I didn't think to take a break for some rest."

"I am so sorry," Toriel apologized. "If I had brought your daughter back sooner, you wouldn't have done this to yourself..."

"Ah, there's no need to apologize," said Momorin. "I'm simply glad that you took care of Sue. I'll be honest: I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to trust you at first, but you seem like a wonderful person to look after her. Perhaps in the future I can ask you to babysit while I'm away for my research."

Toriel smiled. "I would be more than happy to."

Momorin let out another deep yawn. "But for now, perhaps I should be getting some more rest. Why don't you come back some other time when I'm not busy with my work?"

"That sounds wonderful," said Toriel. "I suppose we should be taking our leave now. It was nice meeting you, Momorin."

"Likewise," said Momorin.

As they left the table, Kazuma gathered the remaining teacups, now empty, and placed them within the dishwasher. Toriel gathered Frisk from the game he was playing, though Sans had to step in and pry him away from the television screen. Momorin, Kazuma, and Sue said their final goodbyes as the others left through the front door, making their way back to their home.

Momorin let out another yawn, her head bobbing slightly as she struggled to remain awake. "Well... I know it's early, but I suppose I should get some sleep. Sue, don't do anything foolish in the meantime, alright?"

"Mom, come on," Sue huffed. "What could I possibly do?"

"Go outside," Kazuma replied, deadpan.

Sue was left momentarily dumbstruck. "...Okay, point taken," she admitted.

Momorin turned away from the door, and headed up the stairs to her bedroom. "Oh, before I forget: Kazuma, could you turn the overhead lights off in the laboratory? I don't want to waste any power. Just the overhead lights are necessary: the lights on the hydroponic tables are scheduled to shut off on their own to simulate daylight."

"No problem," said Kazuma, closing the front door.

"Well, you go do that, I'm going to go watch some anime," said Sue.

Kazuma raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Didn't mom assign you summer reading for your home schooling?"

"I, uh... don't know what you're talking about," Sue replied. "You just go do your thing, okay?"

Kazuma knew Sue was lying, yet he also knew he couldn't stop his sister from slacking off. "Alright, fine," he said reluctantly.

"Awesome, thanks!" without another word, Sue quickly departed for the living room.

Kazuma sighed miserably. _God, I'm such a pushover_ , he thought to himself.

* * *

No sooner than they had arrived back at their home, Toriel found herself in an uncomfortable position. Sitting just outside the front door was Asgore, dressed in his royal attire, looking distraught. He had not noticed that they had arrived yet.

"Um... maybe I should go," said Sans.

"Yes. Yes, you should," Toriel replied sternly. The skeleton hurriedly wandered into the forest beyond, disappearing from view.

Toriel briskly walked over to the front steps, a stern look on her face, with Frisk following behind her apprehensively.

Asgore immediately perked up upon seeing Toriel approach, standing up to face her. "Ah, Tori! I was looking for you!"

Toriel's eyes hardened. "Frisk, go inside and stay in your room."

Frisk obeyed without a word, quickly scurrying past Asgore and into the house.

"Asgore... what are you doing here? Are you not busy with negotiations?"

"I've just finished with the most important parts," Asgore spoke. "Ambassador Papyrus is taking care of the rest for now. In the meantime, there are some things I wish to talk to you about... and some things that I wish to apologize for. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but at the very least I ask that you listen."

Toriel closed her eyes, and inhaled a deep breath. She curled her hands into fists, held tightly by her sides, relaxing her grip as she exhaled. "Alright," she said. "Come inside, then. You look pathetic. You are a king, not a hobo!"

"Really?" said Asgore.

"Do not mistake this for an offer of hospitality," said Toriel. "I am simply giving you a chance to say what you need to."

Toriel opened the door, and Asgore followed behind, ducking to avoid hitting his horns against the top of the door frame. She led them both into the kitchen, and positioned herself on one of the chairs at the table. "Sit," she said, gesturing across to the other end. Asgore sat down, the wooden chair straining beneath his massive figure.

For almost a full minute, Asgore said nothing, merely staring at Toriel with pained, regretful eyes. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry. For everything."

Toriel scowled. "Sorry? Is that all you have to say? After all of the children that you _murdered?_ "

"I... I don't know what else I _can_ say, Toriel," Asgore said. "I was only trying to-"

"You were trying to do what you thought was right for everyone," Toriel interrupted. "I know. I understand why you did it. I _want_ to forgive you, I really do. But... you have no idea how much those children meant to me, do you?"

"You really cared about them, huh?" said Asgore.

"More than you know," Toriel admitted, tears beginning to form in the corner of her eyes. "I never met the first child that you killed. But the rest, I grew familiar with. You never visited the ruins afterwards. You did not see me grow to love the other children who had fallen there. You did not know that I had doted upon them as I would my own."

"Y-you what?" Asgore gasped.

"It's true," Toriel continued, barely stifling a sob. "When I found them, I wished nothing more than to ensure they could live happily. That I could care for them. That I wouldn't fail them like I failed our son. One by one, they each left the ruins, never to return. And one by one, I received news that they had died at your hands."

"Toriel... I had no idea," Asgore stammered. "Had I known you'd loved them so much, I... I don't know if I would have gone through with what I'd done."

"It isn't fair!" Toriel blurted out, unable to hold back the flood of raw emotion. " _Every_ child that I have ever cared for has been taken from me! For one hundred years I have watched as human after human wandered into the Underground, only to be struck dead before they could even live their full lives! All because of your stupid plan! How am I _supposed_ to feel about that?" She sobbed weakly, staring at Asgore with a mixture of frustration, anger, and misery. "And the worst thing is, despite everything you've done, I can't bring myself to hate you. I know you never wanted to do any of this. I know that if you'd absorbed the first human soul you found and passed through the Barrier, you might have suffered the same fate as our son. In a way, I know that it was selfish of me to care more for the lives of these humans than the lives of all the monsters in the Underground."

"Toriel..." Asgore stared at her with pleading eyes.

"I sometimes wish I didn't love you so much," Toriel wept. "It would make things so much easier."

Asgore scooted his chair closer to Toriel and reached across the table, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I can't imagine how it is you must feel. And don't know what I can say that would ever make things right between us. But for what it's worth, I'm glad you were able to tell me how you really felt. I know you're hurting, and I hope in time that these wounds between us will heal."

"I do too," Toriel said. For a while, the two of them remained silent, Asgore gently massaging Toriel's shoulder. As the last of her sobs died down, she spoke again. "Do you remember the first human child that we cared for?"

"You mean Chara?"

"No, not him," Toriel clarified. "Before we were sealed in the Underground. Before the war."

Asgore's eyes lit up in comprehension. "Ah... you mean Letka. It's been a very long time since I thought about her. You'll have to refresh my memory, I'm afraid. The war was so long ago that it's barely crossed my mind at all recently."

"I remember everything," said Toriel. "Letka appeared on the outskirts of the mimiga territory, starving and exhausted. When our sentries found her, they didn't know what do to: no human had ever appeared within our lands before. We nursed her back to health, and grew to care for her. She was such a sweet young girl, always so hopeful and filled with joy."

Asgore smiled wistfully. "Ah yes, I remember now. She was quite the talented magician, wasn't she? It was quite the surprise at the time: none of us believed that humans were even capable of spells. And her magic was rather drastically different from ours, if I recall correctly."

"It certainly was," said Toriel. "But she did still learn a thing or two from us. As soon as she saw one of our spells, she could create a similar spell that was ten times stronger."

Asgore chuckled. "Yes, I remember that. She could be quite the troublemaker with that sometimes."

Toriel smiled. "She could indeed." Her smile quickly faded, turning to an expression of concern. "Have you ever wondered what happened to Letka? After she helped our people escape to the Island? She promised to protect them, but I can't help but worry..."

"It has been over one thousand years," said Asgore. "She has likely passed on the responsibility to someone else. Perhaps an apprentice, perhaps her descendant."

"And what if she didn't?" Toriel asked. "What if something terrible happened on the Island while we were away?"

"What do you mean?" said Asgore.

"The other day, I spoke to someone who was on the Island recently," Toriel explained, frowning in worry. "Around five hundred years after the war, an artifact appeared on the Island called the Demon Crown. From what I have heard, there have been multiple wars fought on the Island over its power since then. While I do not know how much of what I was told is true, I fear that terrible things may have happened in our absence. If Letka was not there to protect them, then what became of the mimigas?"

"The Demon Crown..." Asgore muttered. "I've never heard of such a thing. Who was it who told you about this?"

"Ah... her name was Sue Sakamoto," said Toriel. "She is a human, though a curse has made her appear as a mimiga. I was speaking with her mother earlier today. They seem like very nice people, from what I can tell."

"I see," said Asgore, standing up from his chair. "If that's the case, I may have to speak with them tomorrow. Can you tell me where they live?"

* * *

As far as Kazuma was concerned, turning off the overhead lights in his mother's laboratory was a simple task. So simple that he wouldn't expect there to be any interruptions. That expectation was quickly dashed when the monitor at Momorin's desk flickered to life, and Professor Booster appeared.

"Ah, Kazuma! Where is your mother?"

"Taking a well-earned rest," Kazuma replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, I was going to ask her to bring you something, but you're here I think you can save me the trouble," Booster replied. "We've found something in the ruins of the Doctor's tower. Since you're the archaeologist, I believe it may be some interest to you."

"I'm flattered Professor, but I'm not actually an archaeologist," said Kazuma, "I'm just a student."

"Regardless, I think you might want to take a look at it. It's an old painting of what we believe were important figures to ancient mimiga civilization."

"I suppose I can look at it briefly. I'll prepare the telepad." Kazuma approached the monitor, and pressed a button on the keyboard. With a loud whir, the teleporter pad next to the desk came to life, emitting a gentle hum as it prepared for transporting. "Alright, feel free to send it over whenever."

Suddenly, a bright glow began to emit from the teleporter pad, and a series of flickering motes appeared, coalescing into a single glowing shape. The glow soon faded, revealing a stone slab that lay on the pad's surface.

"Did it work?" Booster asked.

"Yeah," said Kazuma.

"Good, good. I'll be going now, I need to finish the next version of the transmogrifier. Itoh's confident that this one will work. Personally, I'm a little bit skeptical, but it's worth a shot. I'll talk to you later." The screen flickered away, and Booster's face disappeared in a hiss of static.

"Seeya," said Kazuma. With another keystroke, he powered down the telepad, and walked over to the stone slab on the surface. He reached over and bent to pick it up, grunting in exertion as he carried the away from the teleporter.

" _Oof_. Jesus _Christ,_ that's heavy. How did the Professor even carry this?"

Unable to lift it any further, he placed the slab on the ground just outside of the teleporter. Catching his breath, he took a closer look at it. Painted onto the surface were two figures, the crowns on each of their heads appearing to signify royalty. They both possessed the white fur and floppy ears of mimigas, yet they also seemed larger in stature, and with horns on their heads.

The figure on the left possessed larger horns and a well-developed golden beard. Kazuma recognized the picture instantly as the monster king he had seen on television earlier that day. But the figure on the right was even more surprising. The robes the she wore in the painting were considerably fancier, and the crown on her head he had not seen her wear before, but her identity was unmistakable.

 _"Toriel!?"_


	12. Chapter 11

Frisk's eyelids gradually fluttered open, the sound of the bedroom door gently opening stirring him from his sleep. The gentle sound of footsteps against the floorboards approached closer to the bed, and in the corner of his eye, he could see Toriel entering his room, carrying with her a slice of pie. She gently sat the plate down on the floor, and regarded him fondly.

"Sleep tight, my child", she said. Frisk closed his eyes tightly, feigning sleep as Toriel leaned over and kissed him on the forehead.

As she exited the doorway, Frisk stirred. He carefully made his way out of the bed, still wearing the clothes that he'd worn yesterday. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so he saw no need to turn on the bedroom light.

Besides, if he wanted to sneak out he'd need to avoid attracting attention.

He quickly picked up the pie on the floor and stuffed it into his pants pocket. He didn't need to worry about there being enough room: by the year 208X extradimensional pants pockets had become standard in most commercially-sold jeans. With the pie stowed away, he quietly slipped on his shoes and made his way to the door.

The door's hinges faintly creaked as he pushed it open. Frisk held his breath in trepidation, hoping that Toriel wouldn't hear him. Swallowing his anxiety, he pushed past the door slowly, letting it close as gently as possible as he made his way to the hall.

He looked around, and saw that Toriel was nowhere to be found. It was likely nighttime by now, and she likely had already gone to bed. It probably wasn't worth checking on her in her room, however: he had to move quickly to avoid getting caught.

Frisk hesitated for a moment. Did he really want to do this? Toriel had shown him nothing but kindness so far. Nobody had _ever_ been kind to him before. Why would he ever leave?

No, he thought. Toriel was nice, but she was suffocating him. If he stayed, he would never have any freedom again. He knew he had to escape. And he knew exactly how to do it. Realizing this was his chance to escape filled with determination. Nothing would stop him from finding a way out.

He made his way past the hallway and to the descending stairs just inside the house's front door. Toriel had insisted that whatever was below was off-limits. Wherever it led, it was the only place left to go.

Without even thinking, Frisk rapidly descended the staircase. The cozy interior of Toriel's home gave way to a dark stone corridor that extended deeper into the mountain. His pace quickened as he followed the path, leading him to a turn. As he went around the bend, he found himself face-to-face with a massive stone door.

Finally. This was his ticket out of here.

"My child! What are you doing!?"

Crap. And he was so close, too. He turned around and saw Toriel approaching at a rapid pace. She moved down the corridor at a frightening pace, moving herself past Frisk and standing between him and the door.

"You mustn't go through there!" Toriel pleaded. "It is too dangerous! Please, go back upstairs and go to bed!"

Frisk frowned. Of _course_ it couldn't be so simple. Now Toriel was blocking the way, standing between him and his last chance of freedom.

Toriel stared down at him, fear plainly evident in her eyes. Frisk simply stared back, his steely gaze demonstrating his unflinching resolve.

"Please... my child, you must understand. If you go out there, Asgore... he will kill you."

Kill him? Frisk snorted in contempt. Like _that_ would happen.

"I see... so you do not intend to back down, then." Toriel let out a sigh of defeat. "Very well. Then, for your own sake... prove it to me. Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive!"

With tears streaming down her eyes, Toriel raised her hand, and a ball of flame formed in her palm.

No, it couldn't be. She wouldn't do such a thing.

"I... I am sorry..." Toriel choked. With a wave of her hand, the ball of flame shot forth.

The next thing Frisk knew, his entire body had erupted in a volcano of pain. He could feel the flames burning at his skin, eating away at his very soul. When his senses recovered, he saw Toriel staring at him, gathering her flames for a second attack.

Frisk suddenly felt an intense rage build up within his chest. Of course. He was such a fool. Toriel never really cared about him. She was no different from anyone on the surface. Looking for any reason to shove him to the ground and trample him.

He wouldn't forgive Toriel. She would die for this. Just like every other monster in the ruins.

Reaching into his pocket, Frisk pulled out the toy knife he'd found the previous day. He lunged forward at incredible velocity, and slashed Toriel straight across the abdomen. She let out a shriek of agony as she staggered backwards, before collapsing to the ground on one knee. For the first time ever, she stared at Frisk with an expression of pure horror.

"D-do you really hate me that much?"

Frisk didn't answer. Instead he lunged forward a second time, stabbing the toy knife straight into Toriel's chest. It pierced her flesh as easily as it would slice through butter. Toriel let out a pained gasp, and her body began to fall apart. Within seconds, there was nothing of her body but dust. Where she once stood, a small white orb fluttered in the air, only to fade into nothingness as quickly as it had appeared.

Good riddance. Now he could finally move forward.

As he stepped towards the door, however, Frisk paused, feeling something wet move down the side of his cheek.

Water? Why was there water on his face?

Not just water, he quickly realized. They were tears. But it couldn't be. He wasn't crying... was he? If it wasn't him crying, then who was it?

Suddenly, Frisk felt something else as well. It was a terrible feeling, unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. He didn't know what to call it... Remorse? Regret? Whatever it was, it was an awful feeling. He felt like he'd deeply hurt someone who was very close to him.

Now, Frisk really _was_ crying. And he didn't stop for a long, long time.

* * *

Frisk awoke that morning in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, his gaze darted around the room, desperately scanning for any sign of familiarity. He quickly realized that he was back in his new home above the surface. It was all just a nightmare.

"It's not fair," Frisk sighed. "Why do I have to remember everything?"


	13. Chapter 12

"Morning, Kazuma! What'cha making?"

Sue cheerfully greeted her brother as she entered the kitchen, the smell of breakfast immediately catching her attention. Kazuma stood over the stove with a skillet, expertly flipping over the contents with a spatula.

"Omelettes," Kazuma replied. "I'm making mine with mushrooms, bell peppers, and cheese. You want the same on yours?"

"Ick. I'll pass on the mushrooms," said Sue. "The rest sounds good, though."

"Sure thing. Do you know if Mom's awake yet?"

"I doubt it," said Sue. "Last I checked she was still snoring like a chainsaw."

"Heh." Kazuma chuckled gently. "She has been sleeping soundly since you got back. Still, I don't want her to miss breakfast. Why don't you go and wake her?"

"Sure thing!" Sue replied eagerly. _"Hey mom!_ " She yelled, racing out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"Gently! Wake her _gently!_ " Kazuma cried out.

* * *

Sue was certain that if looks could kill, the look on her mother's face would have killed her ten times over by now. Momorin sat at the kitchen table across, clutching a large coffee cup as though her life depended on it, glaring at her daughter disapprovingly.

"Um... sorry for waking you up like that, mom." Sue said sheepishly.

"If I wanted to be jolted awake by something so harsh, I would have used my alarm clock," Momorin replied

"Your alarm clock was lying on the floor in pieces when I got there!" said Sue. "You'd slept through _everything_ else I'd done!"

"I don't care," Momorin firmly retorted. "How you woke me up was unacceptable. You haven't caused a mess that bad since the spaghetti incident!"

"B-buh... wha... _You can't prove I did that!_ " Sue sputtered indignantly.

"Enough! Both of you!" Kazuma's voice chastised them from across the room. He soon came into view of the table, precariously balancing three plates of omelettes on his arms. He set down one of the plates in front of Sue, between a set of silverware that had previously been set on the table. He then placed another plate in front of Momorin and the third on his own dining space, in front of an empty chair.

"I made your omelette plain, as usual," he said to Momorin. "I assume that's what you wanted?"

"Yes, of course," she replied.

"Alright, good." Kazuma sat down at the table and began cutting his omelette with a fork. "Now then, I understand there have been some tensions lately, with Sue running away, and doing..." His words trailed off as he paused in bewilderment. "What _did_ you do to wake mom up, exactly?"

Sue cut off a piece of her breakfast and placed it in her mouth. "I don't wanna talk about it," she mumbled as she chewed.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Momorin chastised, prompting Sue to roll her eyes.

"Regardless, there's something I want to talk you all about when breakfast is over," said Kazuma. "Something came up yesterday, and it's of utmost importance that you know as soon as possible." The expression on his face was dire and humorless, betraying the seriousness of the topic.

Sue felt a creeping anxiety well up within her. What could possibly warrant such seriousness from her brother? Sure, he was slightly neurotic and a bit of a worry-wort, but he wasn't usually so grim. "Can't you tell us now?"

"Breakfast first," Kazuma insisted. "I don't want my omelettes getting cold while we're busy talking."

"If you say so," said Sue. Without fanfare, she began eating the rest of her meal.

* * *

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK._

Frisk was laying on his stomach in the living room floor, doodling absentmindedly with colored pencils on scrap paper, when the forceful knock interrupted his task. He could instantly recognize who it was by the force in which they had pounded on the door... assuming there was even a door left at this point.

Toriel, who sat on the couch while reading one of her many dry reference books, looked up in surprise at the sound. "Who could that be this early in the morning?" she wondered aloud. Frisk already knew the answer, of course: only one monster would bother coming to visit this early, just barely after they'd finished breakfast. Two actually, but only one could announce their entrance with such overwhelming gusto.

Toriel set her book down on a small table beside the couch, and took off her reading glasses, placing them in a pocket in her robe. Frisk followed closely behind her as she climbed out of her chair and made her way over to the front door. As soon as she opened it, the smell of fresh sushi wafted across Frisk's nostrils.

"Hiya, Mrs. Dreemurr!" Undyne greeted. For whatever reason she was dressed in a full suit of armor, minus her helmet. If Frisk had to guess, it was because she'd been working overtime as Asgore's personal bodyguard since the diplomatic process began.

Toriel frowned. "I would appreciate it if you did not call me by that name, Undyne."

"Huh? Oh, that's right," said Undyne. "You and Asgore are still separated, aren't you? You, uh... you don't still hate him or anything, do you?"

"What? No, of course not," Toriel replied, seeming almost insulted. "I just... I do not know how to explain it, really."

"You love him," Frisk chimed in. "You just don't know if you could ever _forgive_ him."

"Oh?" Toriel's eyes widened in surprise. "I suppose you could put it that way, yes." A smile crept across her face, and she chuckled softly. "Oh my... you are even better at explaining my feelings than I am! It truly is remarkable how well you can understand others."

"I've had a lot of practice at it," said Frisk nonchalantly. "So what are you doing here, Undyne?"

"What? Do I _need_ a reason to come say hi to my best friend?"

Frisk shrugged. "I guess not."

"Since you're here, why don't you visit us for a while?" said Toriel.

"Whatever you do though, don't touch anything in the kitchen," Frisk added. Undyne's cheeks turned red from embarrassment at the remark.

"Frisk! Do not be rude!" Toriel chastised.

Undyne laughed nervously. "Well, uh... he's probably right about that, actually. I'd love to take a look at your new home, though. I don't think I've ever gotten a chance to see it for myself."

"Come on in," said Toriel.

Toriel stepped aside, letting Undyne through the doorway. The armored fish-person made her way further into the house, eventually coming to the living room, with Toriel and Frisk following closely behind.

"Nice place you got here!" She paused suddenly, and began sniffing the air loudly. "Hold on a minute. What's that smell?"

"If it smells like fish, it's probably you," said Frisk.

"No! Not that!" Undyne replied in exasperation. "Something else. Let's see here..." She loudly sniffed the air a few more times, then, carefully, made her way over to the couch. She bent down, placing her face mere inches from the seat and let out an even louder sniff. Toriel stared at her in a combination of bewilderment and disgust. Frisk, while far from surprised, found the entire scene hilarious.

"Aha, here it is!" she exclaimed. She reached out her hand and plucked something too small to be seen with the naked eye off of the seat, holding it between her fingertips as she stood upright. "This hair... this isn't your hair, Toriel! And it doesn't belong to anyone I recognize! What's the big idea?"

Toriel said nothing. Apparently, she was at a loss for words. Frisk tried his hardest to stop himself from snickering.

"What? Don't look at me like that!" Undyne said defensively. "Half of the royal guards are dogs. You think I didn't learn a thing or two from them?"

"Ah... forgive me," said Toriel, finally finding the incentive to speak. "Frisk did meet a new friend the other day. She was a very sweet little girl named Sue."

"What!?" Undyne exclaimed. "Frisk, you made a new friend and didn't tell me?"

"Uh... yeah?" Frisk said hesitantly. He dreaded where this was going. "I mean, you'd probably meet her eventually."

"Yeah, well I'm going to meet her _right now_ _!_ " Undyne proudly proclaimed. "If she's friends with you, then she's friends with me!" She hastily made her way out of the living room and through the front door, sniffing the air as she went.

For a while, Frisk and Toriel simply stood there in stunned silence.

"We should probably stop her," said Frisk.

"Yes... that would seem like a good idea," said Toriel. "I will call Sans and see if he can bring us to Momorin's house before something bad happens."

* * *

Asgore wasn't lost. A king would never get lost.

And yet here he was, wandering through a suburb sixty miles southwest of Ebotyo, without a clue where to go. The extent of development came as rather a shock to him when he first arrived. A hundred years ago there wasn't anything this close to Mount Ebott but a few villages... or so he'd heard.

It wasn't the first time he'd proven himself to be a poor at navigation. It happened several times in the Underground, for the first few centuries after they'd moved there. Toriel would always insist that he ask for directions, an he would always refuse. He couldn't afford to appear incompetent in front his subjects, after all. After an admittedly far too long amount of time, he managed to learn how to navigate the Underground without any help, but this was an entirely new world. And he didn't exactly have any authority over the humans as he did his own people.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt too much to ask for directions after all.

As he wandered down the sidewalk, he came to an intersection in the road, and saw a young man in a business suit driving in a plain-looking sedan with the window rolled down.

"Excuse me," said Asgore, towering over the car as he approached. "Do you know how I can get to 122004 Pixel Avenue?"

The human let out a yelp of surprise at the sound of Asgore's almost impossibly deep voice. He looked up at Asgore, visibly shaking with fear. The human quickly rolled up the window, and the car suddenly shot forth through the intersection at well past the speed limit, leaving the monster king behind in the dust.

Asgore sighed dejectedly. "Well... _that_ could have gone a lot better." He couldn't really blame the human: anyone who hadn't known him before would probably find him intimidating. Come to think of it, any human who knew _did_ know what he'd done in the past would probably find him even _more_ intimidating. Plus it would be an absolute nightmare for diplomatic relations if the human governments ever found out.

His gloomy thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he saw his bodyguard running across the intersection in front of him, still wearing her full armor.

"I'll find you, Sue!" Undyne shouted as she ran past, not even noticing Asgore in her fervor. "We're going to be friends whether you like it or not!"

Asgore's blinked rapidly in disbelief, his unease growing even stronger. "Oh dear... this could be a problem."

* * *

 **A/N** : **While I've continued to write this fic, one of the challenges I've had is coming up with a personality for Frisk, since they (I refer to Frisk as "he" in the fic as I mistakenly believed them to be male when I started writing Under Story) don't actually have a canon one.**

 **As the general outline of the plot solidified in my mind, I came to see Frisk as being very laid-back and a bit of a snarker, though with a genuine sense of kindness and a fierce protectiveness towards anyone they care about (hence why Frisk was so distrustful of Sue when she revealed she had a human soul.) Given how I've interpreted Frisk's backstory in the previous chapter and how I plan to elaborate on it, it only makes sense that they've become rather jaded. You'll have to wait to see more of that, though. ;)**

 **"Ebotyo" is a reference to Tokyo, with Mount Ebott being analogous to Mount Fuji. As hinted at by Asgore referring to the fic's setting as the "Sunrise Islands" in a previous chapter, the Sakamoto family lives in a nation analogous to Japan. I figured it's only fitting since they have Japanese names.**


	14. Chapter 13

"So what is it you brought us in here for, anyway?" Sue directed her inquiry at her brother. Along with her mother, they stood in the middle of the living room. The space was furnished with a couch, a television set, a coffee table, and two reclining chars with standing lamps.

"Take a look at this." Kazuma gestured to the far wall, bringing Sue's attention to a large rectangular object, covered in what appeared to a tarp.

"What is it?" said Sue.

"The Professor sent it to me yesterday via teleporter," Kazuma replied. "He says it was found in the ruins of the tower on the Island. Apparently it's a painting of two important figures in ancient mimiga history."

"That certainly sounds fascinating," said Momorin. "Do you think we could take a look at it?"

"Um... sure," Kazuma said hesitantly. "But, uh... be warned. You might be in for a shock." He steadily approached the object on the wall. With a single yank, he pulled off the tarp cover and tossed it aside, revealing the painted stone slab underneath.

Momorin let out an audible gasp, which Sue herself mirrored. She marveled at the sight of the familiar figure painted in detail on the slab. "Oh my god... is that Toriel?"

"Oh my..." said Momorin.

"That's correct," said Kazuma. "And the one next to her is Asgore, the King of Monsters."

"K-king? Then Toriel's the..." Sue cut herself off, barely able to contain her excitement at the revalation."Holy crap, do you know what this means? _I'm friends with royalty!_ " she cheered. "You'd better watch out, Kazuma, or I'll have her take your head off!"

"Sue, this is serious!" Kazuma forcefully cut in. "Do you have any idea how significant this discovery is? If Toriel was a figure in ancient mimiga civilization, then that means the monsters that have suddenly appeared must have some connection to the Island!"

Sue suddenly hesitated, her excitement briefly giving pause. "Huh... I hadn't thought of that. Does this mean that Toriel really _is_ a mimiga, though? I mean, she does look _kind of_ like one..."

"Perhaps it is some form of phenotype variation," Momorin chimed in. "There were some mimigas on the island who were different. I believe one of them had purple fur, for example."

Sue shrugged. "I guess so. We'll have to ask her if we see her again."

"Ah- _hah!_ There you are, Sue!" Sue's heart skipped a beat at the sudden shout, a loud female voice booming from the other room. She turned towards the door, and what she saw was both terrifying and bewildering. Standing at just over six feet tall was a large humanoid figure, clad in full plate armor save for her exposed head. Her skin was a deep blue hue, and gill-like protrusions extended from her neck, complimenting the appearance of her long red ponytail and single eyepatch.

With clanking footsteps, she entered the living room and stood several feet across from Sue. With a single gesture, a spear made of glowing blue energy materialized in her hand, and she pointed it threateningly at Sue's head.

"The name's Undyne!" she announced, her wide grin revealing a row of immense teeth. "We're going to be _best friends!_ "

" _Get away from her, you monster!_ " Momorin screamed. Moving with nearly blinding speed, she placed herself between Sue and Undyne, her arms outstretch by her sides in a protective pose. Kazuma said nothing, having retreated against the wall, his face frozen in terror.

Undyne's face contorted into a look of annoyance, and she held her spear upright by her side. "Hey, what gives? You got a problem with monsters?"

Momorin's face froze, nonplussed. After a moment's pause, she spoke again, her voice trembling in quiet anger. "You'll have to forgive me. I can't help but get a little bit nervous when strange fish people-"

"Water nymph," Undyne interrupted, plainly irritated. "I'm not a 'fish person', I'm a water nymph."

"I can't help but get a little bit nervous when strange _water nymphs_ show up in my house and start _brandishing magical weapons in front of my daughter,_ " Momorin continued. "Now you put that spear away before I put it someplace that will make you _very uncomfortable!_ "

"Whoa! Calm down, lady!" Undyne exclaimed, her spear disappearing as she threw her hands into the air. "There's no need to... wait, did you say _daughter?_ "

"Yup, she's my mom," Sue replied.

"So humans are already adopting monster children! That's great!" Undyne said. "Integration is going even more smoothly than I'd expected!"

"Huh?" said Sue. "No, that's not-"

"And look!" Kazuma flinched as Undyne pointed in his general direction, towards the tablet propped against the wall. "You even have a portrait of our royal family! You must really like us, huh?"

"Forget about that," Momorin firmly countered. "Why are you here? What gives you the right to trespass in our house?"

"Trespass?" Undyne hesitated, and panic slowly crept across her face as comprehension dawned on her. "Ack! You're right! I _am_ trespassing! C-crap, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry, it's fine," Sue reassured.

" _No it isn't!_ " Momorin yelled.

"H-hey now, calm down," said Undyne. "I'm pretty sure this is just a big misunderstanding. I didn't meant to scare you like that, honest! I just... well, I get a little overexcited sometimes. Frisk said he'd made a new friend, and I just wanted to meet her myself."

"H-uh?" Sue's eyes went wide in surprise. "You know Frisk?"

"Yup!" Undyne proudly responded. "We're _besties!_ Though I guess if I'm best friends with you too, then it would be a tie? I wouldn't want to play favorites or anything."

Momorin paused, closing her eyes in contemplation. She stood in place silently, as though she didn't even notice the outside world.

Sue felt a pang of worry welling up within her. "Are you okay, mom?"

"I... I don't know," Momorin said. "For a moment, I was so frightened for you... but now I don't know what to make of this situation."

"Heh..." Undyne gave a single awkward laugh. "I'm sorry about that. I'm, uh... not really that great at first impressions."

"Undyne! There you are!"

Sue heard a familiar voice calling from the distance. She looked to the door and saw Frisk running into the living room.

As Frisk approached Undyne, he immediately grabbed onto her, hugging her tightly around the waist.

"Hey! Easy there, kiddo!" said Undyne.

"Undyne, you idiot!" Frisk cried out. "What were you _thinking?_ You can't just go breaking into someone's house wearing battle armor!"

"Hey, relax," said Undyne. "Everything's fine now."

"And what if it wasn't?" said Frisk. "You know that humans are stronger than you. If Sue's mom thought you were a threat, and was willing to use to violence to defend her family... there's no telling how badly you could have been hurt!"

"Aww, come on," Undyne protested. "You don't give me enough credit! I totally beat you when we were sparring in the Underground!"

"That's because I didn't _want_ to hurt you," Frisk pointed out, still holding on tightly. "You're my friend and I care about you _._ If I didn't, then I could have hurt you a lot more." He turned upwards and looked at Undyne with pleading eyes. "Just... promise me you won't do anything else reckless like this, okay? I don't want to lose you."

For a brief moment, Sue could hear Frisk whisper "not again" under his breath.

"Yeah... I guess this was kind of a dumb stunt, wasn't it?" said Undyne. She reached down and affectionately russled Frisk's hair. "Don't you worry about it. I won't put you through this again."

Frisk released his grip on Undyne, and the room fell silent ever so briefly, giving Sue a moment to process the events that had just occured before her. What did Frisk mean by "not again?" How did he end up knowing someone so... enthusiastic?

In fact, now that she thought about it, it was almost ridiculous that she was ever intimidated by Undyne. Her passion was infectious, and Sue couldn't help but admire her for it.

"Is everything alright?" Toriel's voice suddenly came from the other room. She soom entered the living room, with Sans following closely behind her.

Sans casually waved his hand to greet Undyne. "What's up, Kanye?"

"Everything's alright," said Undyne. "I think we managed to sort out any trouble... wait, _what_ did you just call me?"

Sans shrugged. "Eh, nevermind. Glad nobody ended up getting hurt. By the way Momorin, I repaired your door on the way here."

Momorin blinked in confusion. "My door?" Undyne said nothing, her eye darting around uncomfortably.

"You can thank me later," said Sans. He then suddenly raised the top of his eye socket, as though he were raising an eyebrow. "Say, what's that thing there?"

Toriel turned her attention to the object Sans was referring to, and let out a startled gasp. "T-that tablet! Where did you get that?"

For the first time since Undyne arrived, Kazuma spoke up. "We were just about to discuss that, actually. Toriel... I think we need to talk."

* * *

It felt good to have a form like this again. That was Asriel's first thought as he peered through his new eyes, seeing the shape his body had taken. It was a familiar body, a large bipedal body clad in black robes, with a pair of massive horns protruding from his forehead.

He felt the broken soul in his body extend his arms - _their_ arms - out in front of them, flexing their fingers as they both adjusted to their new shared experience. The second thought that crossed Asriel's mind was how _powerful_ they were together. Asriel had but a single human soul bonded to him, and yet its strength was nearly the equivalent of seven; power as great as the one he felt when Frisk had last confronted him.

Frisk. That name. Asriel felt an intense resentment build up within him at the memory. At first, it had seemed like Frisk was a friend. Saving him from the depths of his own madness, showing him the error of his ways. It was because of Frisk's kindness that he had decided to shatter the Barrier, going back to his soulless existence so that everyone else could be happy.

But Frisk wouldn't let them be happy. He reset to before their battle began, and made it repeat all over again. Over and over, Asriel would attempt to smite Frisk with his godlike strength. And over and over, Frisk would put on an act of kindness and persuade him to let go, sacrificing his own happiness for everyone else's.

Asriel fell for it every single time. Even when it became clear that Frisk was resetting to _mock_ his incompetence. All the power in the world, and he couldn't even destroy a single human. All because he was foolish enough to keep _letting_ Frisk win.

"You are wondering where our power comes from."

Asriel was startled by the sound of the broken soul speaking through his mouth - _their_ mouth- reverberating fiendishly just as when they first met.

"That anger you feel. That hatred. _That_ is what makes us strong. Embrace the power of hate, and together we shall become a god."

Embrace hatred... Asriel liked the sound of that. Yes. That would be the solution. The God of Hyperdeath would rise again.

"God of Hyperdeath. What a pathetic name. No... that will not do."

What? Pathetic? Yeah, right. He would like to see the broken soul come up with a better name.

"Actually... that is not a bad idea. My old name no longer holds any meaning to me. Perhaps it is time that I granted myself a new one."

Asriel's curiosity was piqued. Now he really _would_ like to see the broken soul come up with a better name.

"You can call me... Samael."


	15. Chapter 14

Asgore was a _lot_ more lost than he would have liked to admit. Sure, following after Undyne was easy, at first. The distinct clanking sound of her armor, paired with her occasional fervent shouts, made tracking her movements a simple task. But after a while it became more and more difficult to keep up with her; Undyne could move far more quickly than Asgore could follow.

Now, the water nymph had managed to escape from sight entirely, leaving Asgore to wander further through the suburbs. The neighborhood was surprisingly hard to navigate, with winding roads and sparse intersections, made all the more difficult by the fact that most of the houses were extremely similar in appearance.

As he crossed an intersection, he eventually came to what appeared to be a public park of sorts: a space aside the road with a small field of cleanly-cut grass with a dirt path circling around the edges, dotted with the occasional tree and park bench, and a small playground off to the side.

What immediately drew Asgore's attention, however, was who was in the park. Standing in the center of the field was Papyrus, who was surrounded from all sides by a group of small children, murmuring excitedly.

"So cool!"

"Can I touch your armor?"

"Show us another one of your bone tricks!"

"How do you eat without any organs?"

"Now, now, humans, one at a time," said Papyrus. "There is plenty of my coolness to go around for everyone!"

Asgore raised an eyebrow. What was his ambassador doing here? The day was only getting more strange by the moment. And yet... perhaps this was exactly the opportunity he needed. Papyrus had previously been on a "diplomatic mission" to the neighborhoods outside Mount Ebott, and perhaps he could help Asgore find the house he was looking for.

Asgore took a step forward towards the park, only to hesitate when he realized who Papyrus was currently surrounded by. Children. This was going to be hard to do.

Ignoring the knot he felt in the pit of his stomach, Asgore cautiously moved forward. As he approached, Papyrus took notice of him and greeted him cheerfully.

"Ah! Fancy seeing you here!" said Papyrus. "Humans, say hello to Asgore Dreemurr, the king of all monsters!"

"Wow! A king?"

"Awesome!"

"Look at those horns!"

"How does a goat grow a beard like that?"

Asgore sighed. He was already starting to regret this decision. "Papyrus, can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Of course!" Papyrus replied. "Sorry humans, but I'm afraid you'll have to leave now. It seems that the king wishes for a private audience. "

The children let out a chorus of disappointed "awws," before slowly scattering, leaving the skeleton alone in the field with Asgore.

"Papyrus, what are you doing here?" Asgore asked. "Aren't you supposed to be at a diplomatic meeting in Ebotyo?"

"Already taken care of, your majesty!" Papyrus answered. "I've taken the liberty of delegating the task to my most trusted minister, so that I may take the time to better familiarize myself with the humans' world."

Asgore raised an eyebrow. "Your most trusted minister?"

* * *

Within a large meeting room, a number of diplomats sat together at a large circular table, with the Seal of the Sunrise Islands carefully engraved in the center. At one of the chairs sat the Minister of Foreign Affairs: a middle-aged man with short black hair, dressed in a well-tailored suit. The other people in the room regarded him with an air of respect, as he was known as one of the most powerful men in the country. Throughout the president's administration, he had kept the Sunrise Islands' foreign relations together almost single-handedly, among ever-increasing tensions between the nations of the Eastern Hemisphere.

But what he was dealing with now was a greater challenge anything that he'd ever had to deal with before. Clearing his throat, he spoke. "So... you're here on behalf of the Monster Kingdom um... Minister Toby?"

The monster diplomat wagged his tail, panting excitedly. "Woof!"

* * *

"No need to worry!" Papyrus reassured. "I promise you, my minister is the best person for the job. In fact, he's such a perfect fit for the job that he's the only person who even applied for it!"

Asgore had to fight off the urge to facepalm. "We'll deal with that later," he said, putting his worries out of his mind for the moment. "I need you to help me with something. Since you seem to be familiar with this neighborhood, can you tell me how to get to 122004 Pixel Avenue?"

"122004 Pixel Avenue..." Papyrus repeated, placing his bony hand thoughtfully on his chin. "Ah, of course! Sans and I had just passed by that house the other day. I would be more than happy to show you the way! Follow me!"

Papyrus eagerly began marching towards the edge of the park and to the street beyond, gesturing for Asgore to come after him. Asgore began following after the skeleton, only to stop as he felt a tug at his cape.

Turning around, he saw standing behind him a little human girl staring up at him curiously, with brown hair tied back into two braided tails.

"Are you the devil?" she asked.

Asgore blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you the devil?" the girl repeated. "They say he's big and scary, and he lives way down below and punishes all the bad children."

Asgore felt ill. Talking to Papyrus was a terrible idea. "I, er... W-well, you see..."

"Madotsuki, leave the monster man alone," a young adult woman with a long blonde ponytail scolded as she approached the little girl. "It's time for us to go."

"Okay. Bye, mister monster."

The little girl followed after the older woman, leaving Asgore behind. For a moment, he simply stood in place, head bowed to the ground.

"Is everything alright, Asgore?" Papyrus's voice called. "Aren't you coming?"

"Everything's fine," Asgore called back, though he couldn't say he was telling the truth. "I'll be there in a moment."

* * *

 **A/N: Wouldn't want to leave Papyrus out of this story, would we? ;)**

 **I originally planned on having this chapter be longer, but due to time constraints I had to split it into two separate chapters. Since the plot's been slow to build up so far, I figure some of you who may be wondering when Quote, Curly, and Balrog are going to figure into it, so don't worry: you can expect to see a lot more of them in the future.**


	16. Chapter 15

Flickering fluorescent lights hung above the room, filling it with their artificial glow as the sound of machinery remained constant in the background. Placed against the wall was a desk with a computer resting on top, and next to the desk was a cylindrical device with a hollow middle, leaving just enough room for someone to stand within it.

Doing exactly that was what made Mettaton uneasy.

"Alphys, darling, are you sure this will work?"

"Don't worry," Alphys reassured, sitting in front of the computer. "I've double and triple-checked the math. Theoretically, you should be teleported across the room as soon as I activate the machine!"

Mettaton raised an eyebrow in suspicion, something he was very glad he could do in his new body. " _Theoretically?_ "

"Come on, when have I ever messed up something this important?" As soon as she finished her sentence, Alphys's eyes suddenly widened in realization. "U-um... please don't answer that."

Mettaton couldn't help but chuckle at Alphys's remark. "Ah well, I suppose I shouldn't concern myself too much with the risk," he admitted. "After all, what thrill is there to life without a little flirting with danger?"

"H-huh?" Alphys said, dumbfounded. "A-are you sure about that? I-I mean, you have a point about it being untested..."

"You don't get to be a star by playing it safe!" Mettaton exclaimed. "Hit it, Doctor!"

"A-alright. If you say so..."

Apprehensively, Alphys pressed a button on the keyboard. The teleporter hummed to life, and a blue light surrounded Mettaton, engulfing his body in a translucent glow.

"Hey, it's working!" said Alphys.

As soon as she had spoken, however, a warning message appeared on the monitor. The computer beeped loudly as sparks began to emit from the machine, giving off an unhealthy crackling and buzzing noise.

"Oooh my, this is getting exciting!" said Mettaton

"Oh no!" Alphys exclaimed, frantically scrolling through the error message on the computer. "No no no no no no no no no! The humans have their own teleport network? I had no idea! This is bad! This is very, very bad!"

"So what's the problem, dear?"

"It means the teleport signal was thrown off!" said Alphys. "You could potentially end up anywhere in the world!"

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad," Mettaton replied. "I've always wanted to travel the globe when we reached the surface!"

"Just hold still!" said Alphys. In a rush, she climbed out of her chair and ran over to the teleporter. "I'll get you out before-"

Mettaton saw a sudden flash of light, and then the laboratory was gone.

* * *

 _The screams of the monsters echoed throughout the city, smoke billowing from the devastated buildings as the flames consumed them. The air was thick and heavy with dust as the humans pressed their assault, slaughtering any monsters that crossed their path, be they soldier or civilian._

 _From atop the ramparts of her castle, Toriel surveyed the damage, her heart weighed down by the site of the remorseless assault. Neighboring monster tribes had warned of the impending assault, foretelling a genocidal campaign by mankind. Seeing their desperation, the city-state had readily accepted the gaudi and drolls as refugees, along with other assorted species fleeing from the carnage._

 _It was not long before the humans arrived. Despite their preparations, the mimiga city-state had been rapidly overwhelmed, its defenses quickly crumbling in the wake of the human armies' superior strength and overwhelming numbers. The outer walls were breached within ten minutes, and the soldiers defending the city suffered devastating casualties, with not a single human soldier felled. From there, they poured into the city from all sides, sweeping through each district and devastating all that stood in their path. What few civilians were able to escape were rushed into the castle in the city's center, where the fortified walls would forestall the attackers._

 _But the walls would not hold forever. Despite their valiant efforts, the soldiers garrisoned at the castle could not hold off the human attackers, their bows and spells serving as little more than annoyance to the human soldiers. The attackers nevertheless continued, sending massive battering rams and siege hooks to wear down the castle structure._

 _Suddenly, a massive ball of flame flung itself towards the castle, sending dozens of mimiga soldiers fleeing as it flew. Toriel was suddenly paralyzed by overwhelming dread, and in a burst of explosive flame the fireball impacted against the wall, sending her flying. Her senses were completely engulfed in pain, unable to perceive anything but the lingering stench of death._

 _When the pain dulled, she felt someone's arm wrapping around her, lifting her off the ground and carrying her. Her eyes fluttered open, and she looked up to see the face of her husband, the king._

 _"Asgore? What are you..."_

 _"Please, save your strength," he said, voice laden with sadness._

 _Toriel looked around herself, seeing the stone corridors of the castle fly by as she was rapidly carried to the further the building._

 _"Wait! What about the soliders?" she pleaded. "We cannot just leave them to die!"_

 _"There is nothing we can do now," said Asgore. "All that's left is to be there for our people as we wait for our end."_

 _"No..." Toriel whispered. Tears began to stream freely down her eyes as she was carried further and further into the halls. There was nothing she could say that would express the pain she'd endured._

 _As they wound through the corridors, they soon made their way to a massive wooden door. Toriel was soon placed gently onto the ground in front of the doorway by the king, where she continued to sob quietly on her knees._

 _She felt a gentle hand wipe away the tears under her eyes, and saw Asgore looking down at her compassionately._

 _"I know it seems hopeless... and it probably is," he said, "but I need you to be strong right now. For everyone. The mimigas need their queen to be there for them."_

 _"Yes... you are right," Toriel admitted. Wiping away the last of her tears, she stood to her feet, and took Asgore's hand. With a simple spell, she dried the matted fur on her face and mended the damaged fabric of her robes, leaving behind the regal appearance befitting her status._

 _Taking a deep breath, Toriel held the Asgore's hand tightly as they opened the door together and made their way into the room beyond. Despite being easily a hundred feet wide and a hundred feet long, the shelter was crammed tightly with countless mimigas, who struggled to fit into the room alongside the other monsters. By her estimate, there must have been several thousand monsters here in total._

 _As they entered, the room was filled with uneasy muttering, only for it to grow silent as soon as the remaining civilians had taken notice of the king and queen._

 _Asgore took a deep breath, and with as much strength as he could muster, began to speak. "My fellow monsters... There is no easy way for me to say this, but I'm afraid I have come to you with dire news. The last of our defenses have failed. It is only a matter of time before the humans reach us."_

 _A series of startled murmurings began to grow, the monsters in the room becoming visibly distress._

 _"I... I'm sorry," Asgore choked. "Take whatever time you have left to make peace with your friends and families. There's nothing more that can be done."_

 _"You're wrong," a young female voice suddenly called out. "There is still hope."_

 _With a distinctive whirring sound, a young human girl suddenly appeared, hovering in the air. Her skin was a light shade of tan, with hazel-colored eyes that contrasted against her deep blue hair. In her hand she held a small wooden staff._

 _The monsters began to break out into a panic at the sight of the human. Screams carried across the chamber as they tried in vain to scatter, pushing against each other ineffectually in the crowded space._

 _"_ _ **Fear not**_ _," the human spoke, her words booming with power. All at once, the monsters froze in place, and the room grew silent. "Rest assured, I am not your enemy. On the contrary, I'm here to help you."_

 _Toriel was the first to respond, looking up at the girl in worry."Letka? I thought I told you to leave this place! It is too dangerous!"_

 _"No," said the human. "You've done so much to care for me, like the family I've never had. I couldn't possibly abandon you in your time of need. I know of a sanctuary where your people will be safe... and I'm going to take you there."_

* * *

"...the next thing we knew, all of us had been teleported to an island far above the clouds," Toriel continued. The others sat before her at the kitchen table, listening to her recount her story. "Letka had nearly exhausted all of her magic to save us. Though Asgore and I knew her to be a skilled mage, we never imagined that she could accomplish such a feat. We owe our lives to her, and the existence of our entire people.

"Over the next several months, the mimigas began to settle on the Island, along with the other monsters that had escaped with us. But Asgore and I could not stay. We knew that the war would continue to rage on without us. Once we had ensured the monsters on the Island were able to live on their own, we were returned to the surface to aid the monster tribes that still survived. And so we became the king and queen of all monsterkind, uniting them in their desperate struggle for survival. After another year of horrible conflict, we were sealed within the Underground along with the rest of the survivors."

As she finished her tale, Toriel glanced at each of the faces surrounding her, each which stared back at her in amazement. She had never anticipated having to reveal so much of her past, and yet now here she was recounting a tale that had not been told in a long, long time.

"I... I never would have known," said Kazuma. "I've never even heard of a war like that. It must have been utterly devastating if no records survived..."

"And the mimigas aren't even native to the Island," Momorin added. "I'll admit, that was something I wouldn't have guessed."

"Who _cares_ about that!?" Undyne fiercly interjected. "Why didn't Asgore ever tell me that there were monsters who weren't sealed underground!?"

"We had agreed not to tell anyone about our journey to the Island," Toriel replied. "Being sealed in the Underground had all but destroyed the morale of monsterkind..."

"So you both hid the truth from everyone," Undyne interrupted, glaring at Toriel disapprovingly. "You didn't want us to think you'd played favorites."

Toriel closed her eyes, sighing wearily. "I am sorry..."

"...No, it's alright," Undyne admitted. "I get _why_ you did it. I just thought... Asgore could have at least trusted me enough to keep a secret, you know?"

Toriel opened her eyes, regarding Undyne sympathetically. "Asgore... you two really are like a family, aren't you?"

"Yeah," said Undyne. "I owe nearly everything about my life to him. Don't get me wrong, I'm kinda mad he kept this secret from me, but... well, I still think he's a great guy."

Toriel frowned, snorting dismissively. "Well, I suppose I cannot change how you feel about him."

Sue raised an eyebrow, glancing at Toriel and Undyne suspiciously. "I get the feeling there's some sort of personal drama here I don't know about?"

"Yup," said Sans. "Trust me, you probably don't want to get involved."

"Mom, could you tell us more about this Letka person?" Frisk asked. "I don't think you've ever said anything about taking care of a human before the war."

"I'd like to know that, too," Sue added. "Something about the way you described her seems kind of familiar..."

Toriel gave a wistful smile, the memories of a happier time at the forefront of her mind. "You would have gotten along with her quite well. She was a sweet little girl who always tried to see the best in everyone. Were she here today, I am sure you would all become close friends." The corners of Toriel's mouth crept slowly downward, turning into a frown as she realized how little she could actually say. "I wish that I could tell you more about her. When you have lived as long as I, even the memories of those you love begin to fade..."

The others at the table were left speechless. Toriel could feel the weight of their gazes as they stared at her pitifully.

After nearly thirty seconds of silence, it was Sans who spoke up. "Well gosh, that's pretty awful. I don't know if I can do anything to refresh your memory, but... I think I can make it you'll always remember all of us, no matter how long you live."

"Really?" said Toriel. "You can do that for me?"

"Of course," replied Sans, giving a wink. "I'll give you an experience you'll never for _goat._ "

The weight that seemed to have been placed on their heart felt as though it had suddenly been lifted, and Toriel couldn't help but giggle, despite Sue's audible groan of protest. "Oh! I get it! It is because I look like a goat, is it not?"

"Yup!" said Sans. "You're pretty perceptive today, Tori."

"Why thank you!" said Toriel, blushing slightly.

 _Knock knock knock._ Before Toriel could say anything else, she was interrupted by the sound of another visitor at the door.

" _I'll get it!_ " Sue and Undyne cried out simultaneously. The two of them paused in sudden realization, before glaring at each other fiercely.

"Oh, it's on!" said Undyne.

"You know it!" said Sue. "Three... two... one... _go!_ "

" _No running in my house!_ " Momorin shouted. Her words were ultimately futile, as by then the two had already bolted out of their chairs at full speed and began sprinting towards the front door. Momorin grimaced in frustration, massaging her temples with her fingers.

"Well... at least they're getting along," said Sans.

"And here I was wondering if we'd get any more uninvited guests," Kazuma remarked.

As if on cue, a flash of light suddenly appeared within the room, and the instantly recognizable _whirr_ of a teleport sounded. When the light faded, two figures appeared in the air above the table. Frisk, Kazuma, Momorin, Sans, and Toriel jumped backwards in surprise, pulling themselves away from the table as the teleported figures crashed onto it. When the dust finally settled, those were previously sitting at the table were unharmed, each standing a short distance away from the pair of monsters that lay atop the now-broken furniture.

" _I was being sarcastic!_ " Kazuma shouted in exasperation.


	17. Chapter 16

Sue stood eagerly by the front door, breathing as the sound of clanking metal followed closely behind her. As the heavy footsteps grew louder, her grin widened.

"Ha! Beat you!" Sue gloated.

As Undyne approached, she gradually slowed to a stop, breathing heavily. "Not bad, kid!" she said. "Though I totally would have beaten you if I wasn't wearing this heavy armor."

"Excuses, excuses. Come on, let's see who's at the door."

Sue reached up and grabbed the doorknob, pulling the door open on its hinges. What was on the other side nearly made her jump backwards in surprise. Standing on the front porch was a massive monster, more than eight feet tall from his feet to the top of his massive goat-like horns. Beside him was the same gangly skeleton she'd seen with Sans before the other monsters arrived on the surface.

"Asgore, did you clone yourself again? This one seems smaller than the other one..."

"No Papyrus," Asgore sighed, "this is the one who I was looking for. She is... well, I'm sure she can explain it. Would you mind if we came in?"

"Uh..." said Sue.

"Hey, no need for that!" Undyne chimed in. "You guys are welcome here."

"Ah! I'm sorry Undyne, I didn't notice you," said Asgore. His muzzle suddenly curved downward into a frown. "Now that I mention it, part of the reason I came here was to find you. I'd seen you running down the street, shouting about finding someone... I wanted to make sure you didn't get into trouble."

"Hey, relax! Everything's fine." Undyne reassured. "Sue and I are getting along great!"

Asgore frowned. "Yes, I can see that. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't go running down the street while shouting at the top of your lungs."

"Heh... sorry about that," Undyne said, placing her hand behind her head.

"I accept your apology, but please be more careful in the future. I can't understate how important it is that we make a good first impression on the humans," said Asgore. He turned down to face Sue. "But I'm getting off topic. You're Sue Sakamoto, correct?"

"Yeah, that's me," said Sue. "And you're the king of monsters, right?"

"Indeed I am," Asgore replied. "I was told by my wi- by _Toriel_ that your family may know something about what has happend on the Island in the Sky recently. May I speak with your parents?"

"Sure, come on in!" said Sue. "Toriel's already in the kitchen talking with my mom."

Asgore's eyes widened suddenly, blinking rapidly. "Wait, she's here too?"

"Fear not, your majesty!" Papyrus proclaimed. "With me as your mediator, we shall no doubt overcome your relationship awkwardness!"

"Right. Of course," said Asgore, not sounding very reassured. Stooping low to avoid hitting his horns on the doorway, he stepped into the house, with Papyrus following closely behind.

* * *

Frisk stared dumbstruck at the two bodies before him, both of his eyes far wider than normal. From the expressions of everyone else present, it seems they shared in his surprise. "A-alphys? Mettaton?"

"You know these... um, people?" said Kazuma.

"Yeah, they're my friends," Frisk replied. "Are you guys alright?"

Mettaton's body slowly and steadily dragged itself to its feet, his thin metallic limbs gleaming beneath the overhead lights as he clutched his forehead. "Well... this is certainly not quite the entrance I intended to make."

"Wha..." Kazuma gawked. "You're a robot?"

"Oh?" Mettaton suddenly snapped to awareness at the question. "Well of course I am, darling. It's not like there are any other robots like me, are there? And would you look at this..." with a sweeping wave of his hand, Mettaton gestured across the room. "...you've already met several of my closest fans! How lucky for you!"

"Um, actually, there are other robots like you," Kazuma chimed.

Mettaton's lips curved downwards into a frown. "I beg your pardon? I'll have you know I'm not very fond of hecklers."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" said Kazuma. "Other robots mass-produced and used as soldiers."

Mettaton's face suddenly froze. "Wha... _mass-produced?_ "

"Uhhhggh..." A loud moaning noise came from the reptilian figure atop the collapsed table. "That was a doozy," she said, dragging herself to her feet.

"Ah! There you are, Alphys! I'm afraid I didn't notice you." said Mettaton. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"W-well, I'm a little sore, but I think I'll be okay." Alphys's eyes quickly glanced around the room. "Wait... Frisk? Sans? Toriel? What are you guys all doing here?"

Momorin's glared daggers at Alphys. "Perhaps I should be asking you the same thing. We were in the middle of a pleasant conversation when the two of you rudely interrupted and broke my table."

"Your table?" said Alphys. After a moment's pause, comprehension dawned on her, and she looked beneath her feet to see the wreckage of the furniture below her. " _Ack!_ I-I'm so sorry! This was an accident, I swear!"

"You didn't happen to be experimenting with teleporter technology, did you?" said Sans. "'Cause tampering with space and time can be pretty dangerous. One miscalculation could send you anywhere. Or sometimes even nowhere at all."

"That's right, actually," Alphys replied. "I hadn't realized the humans had their own teleport network, and the signal was thrown off. How did you know what I was working on, anyway? I don't recall telling you about this particular experiment."

Sans shrugged. "It's just something I happen to know a few things about. And look, we've got even more visitors."

"Alphys?" a voice suddenly called from the beyond the kitchen, and the others turned to face the group of monsters that were now approaching from he hallway.

"U-Undyne?" Alphys replied.

Asgore smiled weakly. "Toriel?"

Toriel's eyes hardened. "Asgore."

Frisk looked up at Toriel with pleading eyes. "Mom..."

"Papyrus!" Papyrus proudly declared.

"Okay, that's enough!" Sue interrupted. "What is going on here?"

"From the looks of it, it seems the gang's all here," said Sans. "And since we are, why don't we take a moment to introduce ourselves? If we're going to end up in the same place purely by coincidence, we might as well get to know each other, right?"

Momorin let out a sigh of defeat. "I never prepared for guests today... but it's too late to do anything about it now, so we might as well."

* * *

Asriel surveyed the sight before him curiously, watching as the monsters he had grown so familiar with over the course of countless resets introduced themselves to the human family whose house they occupied. The scene played out before him like a movie, only instead of being projected onto a film screen, it was projected straight into his mind. He knew it was an illusion, that he wasn't truly present, and yet it felt as though he were there to witness it happen firsthand. The illusion then faded, and his perceptions returned to the cavern beneath Mount Ebott.

"And now the pieces have moved into place," Samael spoke through their shared mouth.

Asriel's thoughts were briefly thrown into confusion by this statement. Pieces? Did Samael know about this? Was this his plan all along?

Samael simply laughed, a cacophonous chuckle with an echo that carried across the empty chamber. "My dear vessel, did you really think it was a coincidence that the scientist and her creation teleported exactly where they needed to in order to meet the others? This will make it far easier to enact our revenge. But let us first see how this meeting plays out... let them enjoy a false sense of comfort before we tear their hope to shreds. Rest assured, they will pay _dearly_ for our suffering!"

Revenge... Asriel liked the sound of that. He thought of the pain that he endured as a result of Alphys's experiments, the betrayal he felt from his mother abandoning him, and the anger at his father refusing to respect his wishes by declaring war on humankind. Most of all, he thought of the humiliation of being unable to defeat Frisk even with godlike power, as the human child reset more times than he could count, all for the purpose of making him relive their battle over and over again. As his resentment grew, Asriel felt the power within him grow stronger as well.

Soon, the entire world would belong to him.


	18. Chapter 17

Within fifteen minutes of their arrival, the monsters that had suddenly shown up in Momorin's house had left the kitchen at her request, taking the time to introduce themselves and socialize with the others. As the murmurs of conversation appeared in the background, she dutifully swept up the debris left of the table. The smaller splinters were caught between the broom's bristles easily, while the larger pieces she carefully picked up and placed in one of several nearby trashbags. The work was tedious, but for her guests she knew she would have to make certain the house was presentable to them.

As the final wooden splinters were pushed into her dustpan and dumped into a nearby bin, Momorin let out a sigh of relief. The trash bags were too heavy for her to carry all at once, but with some effort she was able to easily place them somewhere where they wouldn't get in anyone's way.

 _I'll have to ask Kazuma to help me take these out later_ , she thought. _I wonder how the others are doing..._

* * *

In the living room, Kazuma gazed warily upon the scene before him. The new guests had made themselves at home quickly, distributing themselves throughout the rooms on the first floor. In one room, he could hear Sue getting into a heated argument with Undyne about something, from another he could hear Papyrus squealing excitedly about something, and from yet another he could just barely make out the sound of Toriel's laughter. Frisk and Alphys had either not made a sound, or were too quiet for him to hear, and judging from what he saw of their mannerisms either was plausible.

That left only Asgore, who sat dejectedly on the living room sofa, his massive girth visibly straining the furniture beneath him. The monster king remained quiet, eyes pointed dejectedly at the floor, while Kazuma merely stared at him, unsure of what to say.

Finally, after an entirely too long period of silence, Kazuma spoke up.

"So, um... is everything alright?"

"Huh?" Asgore suddenly looked up, eyes wide. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't notice you. What was that you said?"

"I asked if everything's alright," said Kazuma. "You've just been sitting there for a while now. Is something bothering you?"

Asgore sighed. "I suppose you could say that. My wife... erm, _ex_ -wife and I are not on the best of terms right now. I'm hoping things will heal between us, but that sort of thing takes time, and I don't believe this meeting will end well for either of us."

Kazuma's face scrunched up in a painful-looking winc. "Yow. That bad, huh? Believe it or not, I can kind of relate."

"Really?" said Asgore.

"Yeah," Kazuma went on. "Mom used to be married to another man. There was a rather messy divorce while she was pregnant with Sue, and since then we've never looked back."

"I see. I take it you and your father did not get along very well?" Asgore asked.

"Not in the slightest," Kazuma admitted, shaking his head. "He was so bad that mom would prefer to just forget about him altogether. Whenever Sue asks about her father, mom always gives the same reply: 'men who don't treat women with respect are barbarians.'"

"I'm terribly sorry to hear that," Asgore consoled. "I have seen many an abusive partner and parent taken to the high courts in my kingdom. There are few things that sadden me more than to see something so precious as family being torn apart."

Kazuma squrimed slightly, his eyes darting uncomfortably around the room. "Yeah... He's gone, and that's what matters. To tell the truth, I don't really want to talk about it more than that. But I do kind of know how it feels to have a family that's not entirely there for you."

Asgore nodded. "I see. I do hope things are better for you now."

"They are, more or less," said Kazuma. "There's something else I wanted to ask you about, though."

"Oh? What is it?"

"That symbol on the brooch of your cape," Kazuma continued. "What is it, exactly? I've also seen something like it on Toriel's dress, and I'm wondering what its significance is. Is it some kind of coat of arms?"

Asgore's expression lightened, an he let out a low chuckle. "Ah, you mean the Delta Rune. Yes, that would indeed be our royal symbol. It was created by an oracle shortly after we were sealed beneath Mount Ebott, prophesizing of an angel who would descend upon us, causing the Underground to become empty of monsters. We adopted it as our official crest, seeing that it would bring hope to our people in desperate times."

"I see," said Kazuma, stroking his chin gently. "But hold on a second, you said the prophecy said the angel would cause the underground to 'become empty of monsters.' I don't know a whole lot about prophesies in real life, but every story I've ever read with them has had some kind of twist. And saying the Underground would 'become empty of monsters' doesn't necessarily mean that they'd be free, does it?"

"You are very observant, young one," Asgore replied, smiling warmly. "It is true. As with all prophecies, the prophecy of the Delta Rune has more than one interpretation. Initially most believed it meant that monsters we would be freed, but soon others began to reach a far more ominous conclusion. Some monsters believed that the angel was really the Angel of Death, a being destined to kill us all. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to worry about that now."

"I'll say," Kazuma added. "You know, there are actually multiple figures known as the Angel of Death in several human religions."

"Oh? Do tell."

"Well, I'm no religious scholar but I'll tell you what I know," said Kazuma. "The most famous Angel of Death would probably be Samael, who acts as an accuser, destroyer, and tempter of man. In many interpretations, he's actually Lucifer, the first of the fallen angels. They say Lucifer was originally a compassionate being, possibly the most loving of God's servants. However, he eventually grew resentful of humans' greed and excess, and came to hate humanity more than any other soul in creation. He then fell into the depths of Hell, and now Lucifer is known to many believers as mankind's greatest adversary. It's a stretch, but maybe there's some significance there?"

"I don't think so," said Asgore. "That doesn't sound like anyone that's been in the Underground."

"Hmm... maybe the other Angels of Death, then? There are quite a few notable ones. For starters, there's Michael, Gabriel, Asriel, Sariel..."

In the span of an instant, Asgore's eyes became as wide as dinner plates. "Hold on! What was that last one!?"

"Sariel?"

"No! Before that!"

"Um... I think it was Gabriel? I'm sorry, I didn't really remember the order I said them in..." Kazuma admitted.

Asgore placed a hand on his forehead, massaging his temples with his fingertips. "Ah, forget it. I'll research it later."

Suddenly, before Kazuma could respond, Sue's voice came shouting from the other room at deafening volume.

 _"Whaaaaaaaat? You liked the fourth season? That's like, the second worst one! The characters were so bland, and the pacing was HORRIBLE! They spent the entire Golden Knights arc LOSING to the same two villains over and over again! And they only had it so that two of the main characters could acheive their ultimate transformations, and to do so they had to TAKE AWAY the transformations of every other member of the cast, rendering four of the six protagonists useless!"_

 _"Oh come on, it's not THAT bad! Having the humans absorb monster souls to transform was a totally clever subversion of expectations! And the monsters weren't just feral beasts that attacked the heroes for no reason, they had their own cultures and civilizations across the globe!"_

 _"Yeah, but what's the POINT of all that if the heroes don't have monster partners like in literally every other series!? THE central theme of the entire flippin' franchise is that humans and monsters are both better when they work TOGETHER to their mutual benefit, but nooooooooo! They had to abandon that for a stupid henshin gimmick! Kazuma, get in here and back me up! Tell Undyne she has terrible taste in anime!"_

 _"Um... Sorry, Sue!"_ Kazuma cried back. _"I just remembered I heard mom calling for me in the kitchen! You're on your own!"_

Asgore suddenly burst out into laughter, his hearty guffaw almost drowning out the sound of Sue's argument. "Ah... some things never change."


	19. Chapter 18

The hallway was silent, save for the distant, muffled sounds of the other guests mingling throughout the house. Despite seeing all his friends in one place, Frisk couldn't find it within him to socialize, preferring the quiet solitude of the second floor. He was almost tempted to take a look at the bedrooms, but any interest in exploring the house further had quickly faded.

He could still vividly recall the nightmare he had woken up from earlier that morning: a near-perfect recreation of the same experiences he had once gone through. Then there were Sans's words from the day before. The words that filled him with a sense of dread that he'd never felt before.

 _"...Which in practice means you can't reset, period_ _."_

Frisk shuddered violently. The strange power he'd discovered upon falling into the Underground was, at many times, the only thing that saved him. No matter how dangerous it was, and no matter how often he had died, as long as he retained his will to live, he could undo any harm that came to him. Countless times he had felt his soul be pulled towards the void of death, only to pull himself out through sheer resolve. The possibility that his death would now be permanent was terrifying.

But even more terrifying, to him, was the thought of what might happen to his friends. Without the resets, nearly all of them would be dead. Dead because of _him_ , no less. He looked down at his hands, and to his horror found them covered in dust.

Quickly, he vigorously rubbed his hands against his pants, hoping to wipe the horrible reminder off his body. When he looked at his hands again, he found them still covered in dust.

Frisk's heart sank. He rubbed his hands on his pants again, to no avail. Then again. Then again. No matter how hard he attempted to scrub, none of the dust came out. Panic slowly began to grip at him, and he felt himself beginning to hyperventilate. It was useless. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't escape the crushing weight of his own sins.

"Frisk?"

Frisk's attention was suddenly caught by the sound of someone calling his name. He blinked, and the dust covering his hands had suddenly disappeared, and the terrible weight crushing down on him vanished. Looking up, he saw Alphys at the top of the stairway, standing at the edge of the corridor.

"Yeah? What is it, Alphys?"

"Oh, w-well... I was just wondering where you were," said Alphys, approaching Frisk cautiously. "I, uh, haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you in a while. How have you been doing?"

"...Fine," he said, the lie easily slipping beneath Alphys's notice.

"Oh, that's good! Great! I, uh, just wanted to say..." Alphys's words suddenly trailed off, and her expression suddenly dropped. "...I'm sorry. I mean, I know I said I was sorry before, but I, um... I never really got a chance to say _sorry_ sorry, you know? That whole pretend date thing didn't really go as I'd planned..."

Frisk sighed. "Alphys, it's fine. That's all in the past now."

"N-no, I'm serious! Frisk, I... I lied to you! I put your life in danger just so I could feel like a hero!"

"Don't be ridiculous," Frisk retorted. "I mean yeah, you lied, but you didn't put me in danger. You had no way of knowing that Mettaton would try to kill me. It's not your fault what happened."

"But I _should_ have known!" Alphys cried out. "There's no way he would have gone along with my script! Have you _seen_ my writing? It's terrible!"

"Alphys, that's enough!" Frisk interjected. Alphys suddenly went quiet, stunned by the sudden outburst.

"Look," said Frisk, "I get it. You're having a hard time forgiving yourself for what happened, even after everyone's moved on. I know how that feels."

"Wait... you do?" said Alphys.

"Well..." Frisk paused momentarily, considering his next words carefully. "...from a certain point of view, yeah. But that's not the point. The point is that you don't have to keep apologizing over and over again. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"Really? I mean... are you sure, Frisk?"

Frisk gave a warm smile. "Of course I'm sure. I don't want you spending all your time feeling terrible about what happened. Why don't we talk about something else to take your mind off that, like..."

Frisk's eyes scanned the room, searching for a suitable change in the subject. His eyes soon rested on a strange protuberance on the front of Alphys's lab coat.

"..hey, what's that in your pocket there?" Frisk asked.

"Oh, this?" Alphys reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a flat touchscreen tablet, with a small camera on its reverse side. "Nothing special, just an invention I've been working on in my spare time. It's called a soul scouter. It lets me analyze the properties of nearby souls! Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"I guess," said Frisk. "How's it work?"

"It's really simple," Alphys bragged. "You just hold it up like this and point the camera at someone, and then tap on their soul on the touchscreen and... what?" Alphys's eyes narrowed, staring closely at the screen. "...there's no _way_ that can be right."

"Is something wrong?" said Frisk.

"Yeah, for some reason the soul scouter is saying your Level of Violence is nineteen."

"W- _what?_ " Frisk blurted out.

Alphys curiously tapped at the device, fiddling around with the touchscreen. "Don't worry, it's probably just a glitch. I haven't quite finished it yet, so there are still quite a few bugs... Ah, there we go!" she declared. "Fixed it. There, see? Your actual Level of Violence is one."

Alphys turned the soul scouter towards Frisk, showing him the contents of the screen. Sure enough, the screen showed a picture of his silhouette, with a bright red orb in the center of his chest, with a number of statistics and numbers displayed beside it. While the other stats were things he couldn't understand, shown most prominently among them was a stat labeled "LV: 1".

"Oh, r-right. You probably don't know what that means, do you?" said Alphys. "Um... Level of Violence, or LV, measures someone's capacity for causing harm. It's inversely proportional to empathy, and well... the only known way to increase it above one is by killing people. To get a level as high as nineteen, you'd have to be some sort of mass murderer or something. It's hard to imagine you being anything like that, huh?"

Frisk let out a weak laugh, devoid of any humor or joy. "Y-yeah, that'd be weird, wouldn't it?"

"It would, yeah," said Alphys. "Um, anyway... thanks for letting me talk to you, Frisk. I feel a lot better having gotten that off my chest."

"Yeah," Frisk replied. "Me too."

Alphys raised an eyebrow. "Wait... what do you mean 'you too?'"

A thick bead of sweat suddenly began to drip down Frisk's forehead. "U-um, I meant to say, uh... you're welcome!"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," said Alphys.

"Yeah..."

For a long time afterward, Frisk and Alphys simply stared at one another, letting silence hang over the corridor. Frisk fidgeted unconfortably, the awkwardness so tangible he could feel it crawling on him.

"So..."

"Uh..."

"I'd hate to interrupt your meaningful conversation," a voice suddenly spoke up, "but Momorin wants us in her living room."

" _Gah!_ " Alphys cried out, "Sans, how many times have I told you not to sneak up on me like that?"

Frisk turned around to the skeleton standing beside him, and felt weirdly relieved to see him.

Sans shrugged. "Sorry, bad habit of mine. You two coming downstairs?"

"R-right, of course!" said Alphys. "I'll head down there right now."

"I'll be down there in a minute," said Frisk.

As Alphys headed down the stairs, Frisk gave a heavy sigh, tilting his head towards the ground. Sans simply stood where he was, his hollow eye sockets somehow carrying a sympathetic look.

"So, you still feeling bad about that whole 'killing almost everyone' thing?"

"I don't want to talk about it," said Frisk.

"And you still want me to kill you if you go bad again?" Sans added. "'Cause you know you're not gonna come back this time."

"I _said_ I don't want to talk about it!"

"Suit yourself." At a leisurely pace, Sans walked over and opened the bathroom door. "If you change your mind, you know you can always call me. For now I'll be heading downstairs. Try not to keep us waiting too long, alright?"

With a final word, Sans disappeared into the bathroom. Somehow, Frisk knew that if he were to open the door again, Sans would already be gone.


	20. Chapter 19

" _Eeeeeee!_ Sans, look!" Papyrus's squealing voice came carrying in from the other room. Sue saw the lanky skeleton stride alongside Mettaton into the living room, where everyone else had already gathered. He puffed out his chest proudly, displaying the heavily stylized signature written on his chest armor in permanent ink. "Mettaton autographed my clothing! Isn't it just the _coolest_ thing you've ever seen?"

"Wow," said Sans. "That is pretty cool. Must be real exciting to meet a TV star in person, huh?"

"Indeed!" Papyrus declared. "It's an honor to have my trademark battle body autographed by Mettaton! Which is why I have decided to never wash it again!"

"Oh darling, you flatter me _far_ too much," Mettaton said with a laugh. "But that's neither here nor there. Momorin dear, wasn't there something you called us here for?"

Momorin nodded, glancing around the room, seeing the others gathered in a circle around the coffee table. All were paying close attention to Momorin, with the exception of Sans and Frisk. Sans seemed to be almost falling asleep where he stood, while Frisk kept his distance from the others, barely seeming to acknowledge their presence at all.

"While you were away," said Momorin, "Asgore wished for me to discuss with him the Island in the Sky, and how it's related to the monsters that are now appearing here on the surface. I believe it would be best if you were here for this, however."

"Huh?" said Alphys. "I-Island in the Sky? You, um, don't mean an _actual_ island that's floating in the air do you?"

"She does," Asgore chimed in. "And I believe it is in your interest for you to listen to us. The Island is deeply connected to the history of monsterkind."

"D-deeply connected?" said Alphys. "How so?"

Asgore let out a sigh. "During the war against humankind, not all monsters were sealed within the Underground," he solemnly replied. "Some chose instead to flee to the Island in safety."

A chorus of astonished cries suddenly rang out.

" _H-huh?_ "

" _Nyeh!?_ "

" _Oh my!_ "

"It is true," said Asgore. "Before the Dreemurr clan were known as the ruling clan of monsters, we were the leaders of a tribe known as the mimigas. Boss monsters are not, strictly speaking, a seperate species. We are more of a... special breed of mimigas, to put it simply. Through magic that has long been lost to time, the souls of our ancestors were infused with a power beyond that of other monsters, granting us the strength to rule over our kindred.

"For millenia, we ruled over the mimiga tribe in peace, with little interference from the outside world. It was one fateful day, when the humans attacked, that the neighboring tribes pleaded for our help. We took in many of their refugees, but in the end, we simply did not have the power to protect them."

"Oh my God..." Alphys whispered. "What happened to them?"

"A human friend of theirs named Letka saved what was left of them," Undyne answered. "Toriel told me about it before you got here."

"Huh?" For the first time since he started speaking, Asgore showed the slightest hint of surprise. "So already know, then..."

"N-now hold on a second!" Alphys interrupted. "Just what is going on here? You're telling me that there are monsters that _didn't_ get sealed underground, that they're on some Island somewhere that's _in the sky_ , and _now_ you're saying that it was a human that helped you save them? Are you seriously saying that all of this happened and _nobody_ knew about it? W-with all due respect, this is all a little bit hard to believe!"

Asgore his head downward turned to face Alphys, his imposing stature betrayed by the gentle glimmer in his eye. "You must understand Alphys, Toriel and I were both worked to ensure that the monsters that fled to the Island could live there safely, before returning to the surface to aid those who still needed us. We feared that if anyone knew we'd helped others escape the same fate as those sealed in the Underground, monsters would lose faith in our rule. In such uncertain times, we could not afford to risk losing what peace and stability we had."

"You could have told _me_ ," Undyne said.

"Undyne..."

"No, there's no need to explain yourself. I forgive you for not wanting to tell anyone. I really do. But..." Undyne paused for a moment, exhaling sharply. "I just hoped... maybe you could have at least trusted me."

Asgore approached Undyne, and placed a firm hand on her shoulder. "I have always trusted you, Undyne. You have done more for me than any other guard captain I have ever known. I will admit, perhaps I was wrong to have kept it a secret, but I would never think of you as anything less than an irreplaceable friend."

"Aww shucks, you know I could never be mad at you!" said Undyne, sporting a large, toothy grin. "C'mere, you big lug!"

"N-now hold on," Asgore said, "please don't noogie the king."

Undyne's affectionate gesture was cut short when Kazuma suddenly chimed in. "Um, I don't mean to get in the way your bonding or anything, but I think some of us are a little bit out of the loop on a couple things. Namely, what about the monsters that _weren't_ on the Island? We're still not entirely clear on where you guys came from."

Undyne released Asgore from her grip, and the king ungracefully stumbled back to his full height. "What, you didn't know?" she said. "We were sealed under Mount Ebott for a thousand years."

"Mount Ebott?" Kazuma asked. "The mountain nearby they say nobody ever returns from? _That_ Mount Ebott?"

"Yeah," said Undyne. "The humans created a magic Barrier that trapped us there. We've spent lifetimes trying break it and return to the surface."

"Magic, huh? I suppose that makes as much sense as anything else we've seen," said Kazuma. "How exactly did you break it?"

The room suddenly went quiet. A prolonged hung over the living room, and the monsters all turned to Asgore, who turned his head towards the ground.

"Tell them the truth, Asgore," Toriel spoke, her eyes staring daggers at the monster king. "Tell them about the children you murdered."

"What!?" Kazuma let out a horrified gasp, one that was echoed by both Sue and Momorin. Oddly, Sue noticed that Papyrus had let out a startled noise as well.

"H-hold on Toriel, this is another one of your lame jokes, right?" Sue pleaded. "There's no way he could really be-"

"It is true," Asgore said, cutting Sue off. "It pains me to admit it, but... I have done things that can never be undone."

"But... why?" the words came out as barely a whimper.

"When a monster absorbs a human soul, they gain a power unrivaled by any other source of magic known to exist," said Asgore. "But to break the barrier, a monster must absorb a total of seven human souls, enough to attain godlike strength. Many years ago, I ordered that any human that fell beneath Mount Ebott be killed, so that I could use their souls to set us free. Toriel... did not agree, to put it mildly."

"So that's why she's mad at you." Sue's words weren't a question, but a statement of fact. "Everyone knows about the children that fell into the mountain, never to return. _You're_ the reason they never made it back."

"Well, I can certainly understand how Toriel feels," Momorin added. Her entire body tensed, her eyes burning with indignation. Asgore flinched as Momorin approached him, effortlessly staring him down despite his size. "Tell me, _Your Majesty_ , what exactly gave you the impression that I would allow a child murderer into my home?"

"N-now hold on!" Papyrus suddenly interrupted. "Just because Asgore may have done a few mean things doesn't mean he's a bad person! R-right?" Somehow, sweat began to drip from his cranium, and his strangely expressive jawbone began to turn into the shape of a frown. "I-I don't understand. Why didn't anyone tell me Asgore's killed people?"

"Wait, you didn't _know?_ " said Undyne. "Papyrus... how do you _think_ he'd gotten his hands on the six human souls?"

"I... I don't know! I thought maybe he asked the humans nicely for them?"

There was a loud _smack_ as Undyne's palm collided with her forehead.

"L-look, I know it sounds bad," said Papyrus, "but the king's really a nice guy! Really! He's the biggest softie you'll ever meet! I'm sure he'd never hurt anybody if he didn't have a good reason!"

"I don't care how good his reasons are," said Momorin. Her voice was calm, yet filled with a palpable anger.

"No, Papyrus is right."

Momorin froze at the sound of Frisks' voice. For the first time since everyone had gathered in the room, he had spoken up.

"Asgore's not a bad person," Frisk continued. "He... did a few bad things, sure. He even tried to kill me and take my soul. But he never really wanted to hurt anyone."

"Wait, what?" said Sue. "He tried to kill you? And you're _defending_ him?"

"Undyne and Mettaton both tried to kill me too," Frisk added. "They wanted my soul so they could escape the Underground."

" _What?_ " Sue blurted out. "F-frisk, you're joking, right?"

Frisk shook his head.

"Oh my God..." Sue's jaw hung agape. "Did any of your friends _not_ try to kill you?"

"Papyrus didn't," said Frisk. "He just beat me up and threw my unconscious body into a shed. Mom tried to get me to kill her to prove I was strong enough to defend myself."

"N-now hold on a moment!" Toriel interrupted, her breath quickening. "My child, have you not said enough?"

"I don't think he has," said Momorin. "Toriel, what is the meaning of this?"

"Hey, leave Mom alone!" Frisk called out. "She only wanted what she thought was best. Everyone did. They made mistakes, but that doesn't mean they're bad people."

The room fell silent, tension still lingering in the air. Sue was the first to break the silence, with a single question.

"But... how could you be friends with them after that?"

"Because everyone deserves a second chance." The words slipped out of Frisk's mouth mechanically, as though he were repeating a mantra.

"I... Maybe you're right. It's just hard for me to believe. None of them seem like people who'd want to hurt anybody." Sue smiled. "But if you trust them, then I guess I do too."

"I don't know about this," said Momorin. The resolve burning in her eyes had vanished, replaced with a lingering uncertainty. "But... I suppose I can try to understand, if you give me the chance. I know what it's like to go through trying times."

Asgore's face lightened, as though a great burden had been lifted off of him. Without saying a word, his expression conveyed an unmistakable display of gratitude.

"So how exactly did you escape?" Kazuma asked. "I'm guessing without taking Frisk's soul, you wouldn't have the seven souls needed to break free. Did the prophecy you told me about earlier have something to do with it?"

"I am... not sure, to be honest," said Asgore. "I had only managed to obtain six souls before Frisk confronted me. Before our battle could even begin, everyone he had befriended came to stop the fight. What happened afterwords is not entirely clear.

"There was a strange creature, neither human nor monster, that stole the six human souls. It then used its incredible power to absorb the souls of every monster in the underground, just enough to equal the power of a seventh human soul. When we awoke, Frisk told us that he convinced the creature to break the Barrier and release all of the souls it had absorbed."

"Wait, seriously?" said Sue. "Frisk, are you telling me you _talked_ a godlike being into giving up its power and setting the monsters free?"

Frisk paused, silently shifting beneath Sue's expectant gaze. "Deep down, he really did care about everyone," he spoke. "I just... had to remind him of that. That's all."

"Come on Frisk, there _has_ to be more to the story than that," said Sue. "What was this creature? What happened to it?"

"Him," Frisk corrected. "And I don't know what happened to him, he just disappeared after that. So just _stop asking_ , okay?"

"What?" said Sue. "Why are you getting so defensive? It's just a question!"

" _Well I don't want to answer it!_ " Frisk interjected. His body tensed, and he held his arms by his sides, clutching his hands tightly into fists. He sniffled, tears already pooling in the corners of his eyes.

Sue recoiled at the sudden outburst, guilt swelling up within her chest. She watched as Toriel hurriedly ran over to Frisk, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket. Leaning down, she carefully wiped off his face.

"Do not cry, Frisk" she spoke in a soothing tone. "It is over now. You are safe here." She turned towards Sue, and gave her a stern glare. "I believe you owe my child an apology."

"Yeah... you're right," Sue admitted. "I'm sorry Frisk, I didn't mean to hurt you. I guess it must have been pretty scary huh? Having to face a godlike being all by yourself, I mean."

"Yeah," said Frisk. "I guess it was."

"You know, I didn't really believe that story at first," Sue continued. "But I guess if you heard about some of the things that happened on the Island while we were there, it'd seem pretty strange too, huh?"

"Wait, you were on this Island?" said Undyne.

"Uh-huh. Mom and Kazuma were both part of a research expedition to study the Island, and I went along with them. _Apparently_ they don't think I can be trusted to stay home alone."

"The _last_ time we tried leaving you alone, you nearly burned the house down," Kazuma pointed out.

" _Will you stop blaming me for the Spaghetti Incident?_ " Sue's sudden outburst prompted a series of perplexed stares from the other monsters. "Ugh, nevermind that. The point is, we went to the Island to study it, but things quickly went downhill from there."

"Oh- _ho!_ " Mettaton exclaimed. "A research expedition gone horribly wrong? Sounds dramatic! Do tell, I've been looking for the right inspiration for my next television series."

"Um... I don't think you should do that," said Sue. "The mission was supposed to be secret. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to make a T.V. show out of it."

"Oooh, a research expedition _and_ a spy mission!" said Mettaton "And it's all connected to the secret history of the royal family! Not to worry darling, my lips are sealed. But _do_ continue, I'm absolutely intrigued!"

Sue rolled her eyes. The robot certainly had a flair for the melodramatic. "The expedition went well at first. Along with us were a couple of mom's old friends, Professor Booster and Itoh. But there was also our research team's Doctor, Fuyuhiko Date. He seemed nice to me at first, but... I really had no idea just how cruel and heartless he was."

Sue glanced across the room, seeing that she now had the undivided attention of everyone present. Her mother and sibling both seemed especially uncomfortable at the Doctor's real name. "Somehow, he knew that the Island was home to an artifact known as the Demon Crown, which grants whoever wears it incredible magical power. When he put on the crown, he turned on us, forcing us to flee. I was afraid I'd never see my family ever again..."

"And what happened to the mimigas?" Asgore asked, his voice laced with concern. "If such a man posessed such power, I fear what he could have done..."

"Nothing good," Sue replied. "There's a very rare species of flowers native to the Island. Mom was there to study them and their effects. It's... not pretty, to say the least."

"How so?" said Asgore.

"Well, um... Mom's probably the best one to explain how it works exactly, but long story short, when a mimiga eats one they turn into an unstoppable killing machine."

At once, Asgore and Toriel both shared an astonished gasp. The other monsters looked similarly shocked, a horrified look crossing each of their faces.

"Killing machine... you do not mean that they lose their minds completely, do you?" Asgore pleaded.

"That is precisely what happens," Momorin explained. "The Demon Flower, or _Rosa Diabolus_ , contains a substance within its petals that vastly increases one's strength, while maximizing aggressive behavior and crushing any faculties of reason."

"And this Doctor of yours... he wished to turn the mimigas into these abominations?" The question was clearly a formality, as it was obvious that Asgore knew the answer already.

"I'm afraid so," replied Momorin. "An enraged mimiga is the perfect weapon. There is no known cure for their condition, and they are frighteningly powerful in combat, capable of causing untold destruction."

"Tell me about it," Sue said with a groan. "I'm _still_ sore from the time I got beaten up by one of them."

There was another series of astonished gasps, this time coming from Sue's family.

"You were _what!?_ " said Kazuma. "You encountered an enraged mimiga and _survived?_ "

"Yeah, in the Egg Corridor. I don't mean to brag," Sue said, clearly not meaning it, "but I think I put a pretty darn good fight! He still knocked me out cold, though."

Kazuma's face had suddenly turned a deathly pale. "Sue, that's not... Do you have any idea how terrifying an enraged mimiga is? They're capable of tearing through _thousands_ of the most powerful soldiers in the world without so much as a scratch on them! Even a single one of them is a one-man army!"

"H-huh?" Sue stammered. "They're... they're _that_ strong?"

"The historical records we found certainly seem to think so," said Kazuma. "And I don't think that they're exaggerating. How else would the Doctor have taken over the world? Humans outnumber mimigas by the billions, and yet he planned on conquering us just with that. The Doctor may have been heartless, but he wasn't stupid. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you survived, but... honestly, it's a miracle that you weren't torn into bloody pieces."

Sue winced at the mental image that formed in her mind, of the massive hulking beast in the Egg Corridor punching her so hard that her body was reduced to the consistency of chunky salsa.

"Geez, I... I had no idea," she said. "Monsters with humans souls are supposed to be, like, _really_ powerful though, right? Do you think I survived because I have a human soul?"

"Hold on, you have a _what?_ " said Undyne. "Geez, slow down with all the shocking revelations, would you? You're starting to burn us out here!"

"It's true though," said Sue. "And before you say it, I didn't kill anyone for it. I was born human. A witch named Misery used her magic to transform me."

"She... _transformed_ you?" Alphys interjected. "But how would that even be possible? Turning a human's body into a monster's would mean directly transmuting matter into magical energy! You'd need ungodly amounts of power to be able to do something like that!"

"Misery was incredibly powerful," Sue countered. "Almost certainly more powerful than the Doctor himself. But she was forced to obey anyone who wore the Demon Crown without question. We don't really know what's happened to her now: the Doctor was killed by a robot soldier, and the Demon Crown was destroyed."

"And what of the mimigas?" asked Asgore. "Are they alright?"

Sue shook her head sadly. "I don't know. We haven't had the chance to travel to the Island since we left. From what I've heard, the mimigas have been able to rebuild their society well enough, but many of them were killed by the Doctor and his goons."

"That is exactly what I feared." Asgore let out a sigh. "I had hoped that if you understood the history of our people, you would be able to help us find out what had happened in the time since we were away from the Island. It has been so long since Toriel and I had seen our own kind... I had hoped that if we could not see them again, we could at least be ensured that they were still safe."

Asgore turned towards Momorin and looked her straight in the eye. "Thank you for your hospitality, Momorin. I am grateful that you were kind enough to be patient with me, in spite of my wrongdoings."

"Don't mention it. Frisk is a sweet child, and if he is willing to give you a chance, then I will too." Her eyes suddenly turned firm, her steely gaze boring straight into Asgore's soul. "But you had _better_ not threaten any other children, understood?"

"Ah... t-that won't be a problem, I promise!" Asgore hastily replied. "Now then, I believe we should be going now. I wouldn't want to overstay our welcome."

"..Actually," said Momorin, "I don't have any particular plans at the moment. I believe I may be able to do a favor for you."

"Oh?" said Asgore. "What kind of favor?"

Momorin smiled. "How would you like to visit the Island today?"

* * *

 **A/N: EXPOSITION, HO!**

 **This chapter was a pain to write, mainly because I had to make sure that *all* the characters involved were filled in on exactly enough details about the plots of both games.**

 **I also deleted the previous chapter where Jenka and Curly appeared to deliver exposition, since most of what that chapter accomplished I felt could be better accomplished here, and because it felt very unnecessary and jarring to the overall flow of the story.**

 **But now that this chapter is out of the way, the REAL story can finally begin, and boy do I have a *lot* planned for it. You'll see what I mean soon enough...**


	21. Chapter 20

The door to the basement opened with a creak, and Momorin walked carefully down the stairs, leading the large group of others trailing behind her. She flicked on the light switch as she descended, letting the fluorescent bulbs overhead illuminate the area. The group collectively paused as they reached the bottom of the stairway, taking a moment to observe their surroundings.

Asgore's attention was drawn to the laboratory's hydroponic tables, and the numerous plants growing on them. "I had no idea you had such an interest in gardening, Momorin."

"Gardening?" said Momorin, "Oh no, this isn't gardening. I'm a botanist, you see. I research plants for a living."

Asgore chuckled. "Well, whatever it is, you certainly have quite the green thumb."

"Holy crap!" Alphys cried out. " _That's_ your teleporter?! It's _huge!_ " She gawked at the machine, a massive teleport pad that stood near the wall, with a series of wires connecting it to a computer monitor on a nearby desk.

"Impressive, isn't it?" said Momorin. "What you're seeing here is a state-of-the-art machine capable of transporting up to twelve passengers at once."

"A-and you use this to go to the Island?" said Alphys.

"Nah," Sue remarked. "Mainly we just use it for transporting supplies, or the occasional visit from Professor Booster. Mom and Kazuma have been too busy to really go back there."

"Regardless, it should be more than enough to transport anyone who wishes to come visit the Island," Momorin added. "It connects directly to New Mimiga Village, where most of the mimigas have made their home."

"Village?" Asgore asked worriedly. "Are there so few left that a village is all they have? And what happened to the old one?"

"Mimiga Village was destroyed by a cave-in," said Kazuma. "Another village was rebuilt in a forested area on top of the Island, a short distance away from the Balcony. From what I've heard, most of the mimigas live there, but there are also a few in Grasstown."

"I see..." said Asgore. His eyes were drawn to the ground, as though weighed down by regret. "That settles it, then. I must see it with my own eyes. I must know what has happened to my kindred in my absence."

"There is no need to blame yourself."

Asgore suddenly looked up, his head turning in the direction of the voice that had called out to him.

"Ah? Toriel?"

"What happened to the mimigas was out of our control," Toriel added. "I understand if you feel like you abandoned them, but... there is no point in dwelling on it now. I wish to visit the Island as well, and see how our people have fared."

"I figured you would also wish to visit," said Momorin. "I'd be able to take you both over to the Island, and we could spend an hour or two at the New Mimiga Village. Is there anyone else you'd like to take with you?"

"Hey mom, can I come?" said Frisk, tugging at Toriel's robes.

"Why, of course you can! I would be more than happy to take you along with me."

"Hey, what about me?" Undyne interjected. "There's not a chance I'd pass up on seeing this Island with my own eyes!"

"Eyes... plural?" said Papyrus. "I thought you only had one of those."

"It's a figure of speech! Point is, I'm going to the Island, and you're coming with me!"

"Er... I am?" said Papyrus

"You bet!" Undyne flashed Papyrus a large, toothy grin. "You didn't think I'd go without one of my best buds, did you?"

"No, I suppose not. And now that I think about it, I would be glad to journey forward with you! Since Asgore's been gone from this Island so long, he would no doubt need someone to aid in reconnecting with his people! And I, the _Great Ambassador Papyrus,_ " Papyrus put a particular emphasis on the word 'great', being sure to roll the 'r' as long as possible, "will be glad to offer my assistance!"

"H-hey, wait a second," Alphys chimed in, "don't you have other work to do here on the surface? I mean, I, um... kinda thought you'd be busy meeting with the human leaders?"

Papyrus opened his jaw to speak, only for Asgore to interrupt. "Ah... well, you don't need to worry about that. That task had been dealt with before we arrived."

Toriel raised an eyebrow. "That does not sound particularly reassuring."

"And why not?" Sans asked. "I'm sure my bro's got it under control. You don't think he can take care of his own business?"

Toriel opened her mouth, then closed it again. "Ah... I am sorry Sans, I did not mean to imply anything like that..."

"There's no need to worry, Lady Asgore," said Papyrus, "I can assure you that I have everything in perfect order!"

Toriel's body tensed involuntarily. "What did you call me just now?"

"Come on mom, there's no need to start this again," said Frisk. "Can we let Papyrus come with us? Please?"

"Well... I suppose it wouldn't hurt," said Toriel. "We are only going to be gone for a few hours, after all."

"Great!" said Undyne, "This'll be a blast! You ready to head to the Island, Alphys?"

"Huh? Me?" said Alphys. "W-well, now that you mention it, I _am_ kind of curious about the Island. I guess I wouldn't mind getting to see it for myself..."

"That's the spirit! Anyone else?"

"Do you even need to ask, darling?" Mettaton answered. "Why would I _ever_ miss out on an opportunity like this? Oh, I can see it already! Action! Drama! Suspense! How exciting!"

"What? No!" said Undyne. "It's just a short trip to visit the other mimigas, or whatever they're called! Not everything has to be like a TV show, you know!"

"Undyne, you _do_ know that anime is television, right?" said Frisk.

"Um... yeah," said Undyne. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Frisk rolled his eyes. "Nothing."

"Well, whatever," Undyne continued. "So that makes you, Asgore, Toriel, Papyrus, me, Alphys, and Mettaton. Sans, I assume you want to come with us, too?"

"Of course," said Sans. "No way I'd let Papyrus have all the fun."

"Oh, please. You're just jealous because _I_ get to introduce us to all the other Asgores on the Island."

"You got me there," said Sans. "So with me, I guess that's pretty much everyone, right?"

"It would certainly seem so," said Momorin. "I believe we have just enough room in the teleporter for ourselves as well. Kazuma, I assume you and Sue would like to come with us?"

"Oh, certainly," said Kazuma. "I've been so busy with my studies, I'd love nothing more than to see the Island without things going awry for a change. Maybe I'll even get to see Tenryu again..."

"That Island's been nothing but a pain in the butt for me," said Sue. "Though I guess if Frisk is going, I might as well go too."

"Well that's settled, then" said Momorin. "I'll speak with Professor Booster about connecting the teleporter, and then we'll head over. If there are any last preparations you want to make, feel free to do so now."

Momorin approached the computer monitor resting on the desk, and with the press of a key, the display came to life.

* * *

Sue leaned her body against the wall. As the others milled around the laboratory waiting for Momorin to finish, she stared blankly into the distance. Her thoughts turned to the events of the previous summer, during their original expedition to the Island. Few, if any, were pleasant thoughts.

She remembered meeting the Doctor for the first time, and being charmed by his affable demeanor. He had acted especially friendly towards her in particular, taking time out of his work to teach her about the fundamentals of medicine in clear, easy-to-understand terms. He'd even given her candy after each one of his "lessons." It was hard to imagine back then that he would have turned out to be so monstrous.

No, that wasn't right. Comparing the Doctor to a monster would be an insult to all of the new friends she'd made. That man was like a _demon._

In hindsight, she probably should have realized it sooner. Her mother and Kazuma were always visibly uneasy in the Doctor's presence, even going so far as to avoid using his real name whenever possible. At one point, Kazuma had emphatically warned her not to trust the Doctor. At the time she'd brushed her brother off, but now she'd regretted having ever doubted him. Needless to say, Kazuma's instincts had eventually proven to be entirely correct. Sue almost couldn't believe how well he'd judged the Doctor's character, despite never having met him.

Before she could contemplate the past any further, she heard the unmistakable clanking of heavy plate mail approaching her. She craned her neck upward, looking her friend in the eye.

"Hey Undyne. What's up?"

"I just wanted to ask you about something," said Undyne.

"Shoot," said Sue.

"Since you have a human soul, you're pretty strong, right? Like... _unbelievably_ strong."

"Um, w-well..." Sue struggled to articulate herself, the words seeming to disappear as soon as they left her throat. "...I guess?"

"Heck," said Undyne. "I bet if you learned how to really use your magic, you could probably kill us all without even breaking a sweat _._ "

Sue suddenly felt a deep sinking sensation forming in the pit of her stomach. "I... I think so? Undyne, what exactly is your point here?"

" _Yes!_ " Undyne cheered. "I knew it! I finally get it now!"

"Get _what?_ "

"Alphys likes to go on about anime characters being Sues," said Undyne. "She says it's because they're overpowered, but I never really got the connection. Now it all makes total sense!"

Sue pressed her palm sharply against her forehead. "Ugh, forget I asked. Don't you have any preparations to make before we leave for the Island? Maybe change out of that armor? It doesn't look all that comfortable."

"Nah, I'm fine. I didn't bring a change of clothes anyway," said Undyne.

"Really?" said Sue. "Shouldn't you be wearing some other clothes beneath that? Wouldn't it chafe pretty badly otherwise?"

"What, are you nuts?" said Undyne. "This suit's hot enough as it is. The last thing I need is another layer to roast me alive."

"Oh," Sue replied. "...Wait a second, isn't that kind of like saying saying you're not wearing any underwear?"

"H-hey, that's none of your business!" said Undyne. "And you're one to talk, Little Miss Not-Wearing-Pants!"

Sue glanced backward at her tail, painfully reminded that it didn't fit into any of her old pants. And she certainly wouldn't be caught _dead_ wearing a dress.

"Touché," she admitted.

* * *

As Momorin configured the teleport controls, Kazuma's attention was drawn away from the console, towards the several unexpected visitors that had turned up in his home. Of the assortment of odd guests, most were plainly monstrous, of the same kind that had turned up on the surface the day before.

One, however, did not clearly seem to fit this pattern. Mettaton was a strange being, appearing to be entirely robotic, but there was something _off_ about him that Kazuma couldn't quite place. The last robot he'd met certainly wasn't so... flamboyant. The robot was such an oddity that he couldn't help but stare.

Mettaton took notice of Kazuma's look, and smiled coyly. "Like what you see?"

"Huh?" said Kazuma.

"Oh, there's no need to be so shy, darling," said Mettaton, approaching Kazuma with a swagger. "If I were you, I'd be admiring my body too."

"Um... no, it's not that. Trust me. I was just wondering, you were built by Alphys, right?"

"In a certain sense, yes," Mettaton replied. "The Mettaton you see before you is none other than Alphys's finest creation!"

"Ah, that's what I thought," said Kazuma. "Before that I briefly mistook you for one of the soldiers built here on the surface."

Mettaton frowned. He crossed his arms, folding them over his chest. "Oh, really? _Do_ tell."

"Well, for one, the last robot I met was a soldier that was kind of like you," Kazuma continued. "Pale complexion, dark hair... he looked almost human."

"And you're saying you couldn't tell me apart from some factory-made war machine?" Mettaton sharply replied.

"What?" said Kazuma. "No, of course not! I mean, at first, sure, but looking at you now it's pretty clear you're different."

Mettaton raised an eyebrow. "Different _how?_ "

"Your legs, for one," said Kazuma. "I've never seen a robot with anything quite like those."

Mettaton relaxed, a smile once again crossing his face. "Well, I suppose I can't fault you for noticing. My legs are an important part of my sex appeal, wouldn't you agree?"

"Oh, um... look, mom's almost done with the teleporter!" Kazuma hurriedly replied. "I'd better go check on her. Like, right now!"

* * *

"...I see. In that case, I'll prepare the other end of the teleporter right away."

"Thank you, Professor. We'll see you soon."

Momorin switched off the monitor's display, and the image of Professor Booster flickered into nothingness. She turned around to see an expectant crowd assembled behind her.

"The teleporter has been connected. Is everyone ready?"

"I believe so, yes," said Asgore. "And we just step into this teleporter of yours?"

"That's correct," Momorin replied. "But first, I should explain some of the basics of teleport safety." She pointed to the floor of teleport pad, where a series of bright blue markings had been painted. "Each of these circles marks a space that can be occupied by a passenger. Make sure that no more than one person occupies each circle. When the teleport begins, it is absolutely crucial that you don't move from your position until it is completed."

"Understood," said Asgore.

"Good," said Momorin. "Does anyone else need me to repeat that?"

Sue rolled her eyes. "Yeah mom, we get it."

"No need to get exasperated, kid," said Sans. "If there's one thing I know about teleporting, it's that bad things happen when it goes wrong."

"Yeah, I know," said Sue. "I just want to head to the Island already. I know we haven't been waiting for long, but feels like it's taking _forever_."

"Patience is a virtue, my child," said Toriel. "You must understand, your mother is simply concerned for your well-being. Now, does anyone else wish to hear her explanation again?"

Toriel's question was met with a range of negative responses, indicating a shared understanding of teleport safety among the group.

"Alright then," said Momorin, "I've prepared the teleporter to transport eleven passengers to the Island. Step into one of the circles whenever you're ready."

Momorin led the way onto the teleport pad, positioning herself on one of the passenger spaces. The others followed after her, lining up one-by-one into each of their respective circles.

A dull humming sound emitted from the machine, and all at once, the entire group disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Asriel couldn't believe what he had just seen. Before he'd died, he'd heard his parents tell him stories of the Island in the Sky: a magical land of peace and prosperity, untouched by the war between humans and monsters. He had never been told that it was anything more than a fairy tale.

Now here he was, peering across the fabric of space to see his parents not only speaking of the Island as reality, but traveling there themselves to reconnect with their long-lost kindred. Asriel had seen many things over the course of his resets, but never would he have imagined he would see this.

Asriel felt his lips curl into a grin. Sinister thoughts began to intrude into his mind, thoughts that were not his own. Ideas so diabolical that he would have hardly dreamed of them himself.

"Now this... _this_ is an interesting development," Samael spoke through him. "I think we're going to have _fun_ with this."

* * *

 **A/N: Phew! Finally, after more than twenty chapters, we get our characters to the main setting of the story! What's happened so far has been almost entirely setup, so now that the cast is heading to the Island, you'll start to see the plot picking up pretty quickly.**

 **I also decided it'd be best to get the joke about Sue's name out of the way early, because there's now way I could resist making it sometime.**


	22. Chapter 21

Sue could never quite get used to the sensation of teleporting. She'd done it several times before, but that was only because dire circumstances had left her with no other option. She'd hoped she wouldn't have to do it again, much less to go back to the Island where she'd almost lost her entire family.

As the teleport completed, Sue felt her stomach turn, a feeling of nausea crawling across her body. When her eyes adjusted to the flash of light, she found herself standing on a teleport pad similar to the one she'd left on, in what appeared to be some sort of large laboratory. There was a computer monitor on a desk beside the teleporter, a door located on the far side of the building, and placed throughout the room were a number of machines with purposes that Sue couldn't discern: the only one she recognized was the incomplete transmogrifier placed several feet away, similar to the failed version Itoh had build in her mom's own laboratory.

Itoh, as it turned out, was standing right across from the teleporter alongside Professor Booster. There was another mimiga alongside them both, wearing a pair of thick, black-rimmed glasses: Sue recalled seeing him in the old Mimiga Village, and in the Plantation before he was taken away by the Doctor's henchmen. Most strangely of all, however, was the blonde-haired woman that was standing beside them both. It was clear from her pale skin and antennae that she was a robot, much like the savior that had killed the Doctor.

"Whoa! That's a lot of visitors!" said Itoh. "Are you sure we'll be able to accommodate all of them in the village?"

"There's no need to worry about that," Booster reassured. "They'll only be here a few hours at most. I'm sure you'd be more than willing to show them around, Jack?"

"H-hey, I'm the leader here!" Jack hastily retorted. "But yeah, I suppose. I just didn't think they'd be bringing so many dustlings here." Jack approached the teleporter and looked up at Asgore, pointing at him with his index finger. "So, you're the figure on that tablet we found? Legend has it you were our king once."

"A legend..." For a moment, Asgore paused, looking as though he were in shock. "Yes, I was once the king of the mimiga civilization, but that was more than a thousand years ago."

"I see," said Jack. "Well, you'll have to forgive me if I'm a little baffled. I never thought you were anything more than an old story. Pleased to meet you, my name's Jack. I'm the number one here in New Mimiga Village. This here's Professor Booster, Itoh, and Curly Brace." As he turned and introduced the others, he pointed at each of them in turn.

"So what's your name, anyway?" Jack continued. "The legends aren't exactly clear on what you're called."

"You may call me Asgore. This is my wi- _ex-_ wife, Toriel," he said, gesturing towards the unamused subject, "and her adopted child, Frisk. And this young woman is Undyne, and her partner, Doctor Alphys."

 _Partner? That's new,_ thought Sue. She would have never guessed the two of them to be dating.

"This right here is Papyrus, and his older brother Sans," Asgore continued.

"Sans, are you the younger brother? I thought I was the older brother." Papyrus attempted to whisper as discretely as possible in the side of Sans's skull, but Sue's hearing was more than keen enough to pick up on it. Sans merely shrugged in response.

"...and then there's Momorin and her children, Sue and Kazuma," Asgore continued. "Finally, we have a robot created by Alphys herself... ah, I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"Mettaton," he replied curtly. "Your Majesty, with all due respect, you _really_ should watch television. For God's sake, I was a household name in the Underground!"

Asgore's face flushed red, despite the fur covering his cheeks. "Ah... my apologies. Technology is not my strong suit."

"Wow! Another robot!" Curly exclaimed, approaching Mettaton. "Nice to meet you, I'm Curly Brace! So you were on television, huh? I've heard of robot soldiers, but never a robot TV star!"

"That's because I'm different from you," Mettaton snidely replied. "And don't you forget that."

"Hey, no problem," said Curly, not appearing to notice she'd been insulted. Her attention then turned towards Sue, focusing on her with just as much enthusiasm. "Oh hey, you're Sue, right? Quote told me all about you. It's great to finally get to meet you in person!"

"Quote?" said Sue. "Who's that?"

"Oh, right. He probably didn't tell you his name, did he?" Curly replied. "He's a robot, kind of like me? Black hair, wears a hat?"

"Oh! You mean the savior!" said Sue. "Yeah, I know him. Rescued me a few more times than I'd like to admit. Where is he, anyway?"

For the first time since she'd spoken, Curly's cheerfulness began to fade. There was a deep longing in her eyes that Sue would not have thought possible for a robot.

"I... don't know," Curly said. "After we moved into New Mimiga Village, he started leaving regularly to explore the Island. At first he was only gone for a day or two, but after a while his disappearances started getting longer and longer. Eventually he started leaving for days at a time before he returned. The last we saw of him was more than two weeks ago. He came to the village, covered in dust, and left without saying a word."

Just then, Sue could almost swear that at the edge of her peripheral vision, Sans's eye sockets had gone completely dark. She glanced in his direction, only to find that the lights in his eyes were there just as they normally were.

"Well geez, sorry to hear," said Sue. "Hey, how about we take your mind off that for now, and have you show us around a bit?"

"Yeah, I suppose," said Curly. "Jack, since you're the leader here, how about you give the tour?"

"Me? Um, I mean yes! I'd be glad to" said Jack. "Just leave it to-"

 _Thump._

Everyone in the room suddenly froze. "Wait," said Itoh, "did you hear that?"

 _Thump. Thump._ **Thump.**

"Oh..." Jack's eyes widened, his pupils dilated, eyes widening like a deer caught in headlight. "Oh _no..._ "

"What?" said Sue. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing you need to worry about," said Professor Booster, carefully stepping farther away from the door. "You may want to cover your ears, though."

"What are you talking about? That doesn't make any-"

 **CRAAAAAAAAASH!**

" _Huzzah!_ "

* * *

 _The sound of muted explosions and gunfire filled the air. The noise was muffled by the walls of the underground bunker, and yet it was still loud enough that it almost drowned out all other noise._

 _"I'm scared."  
A female voice called out to him. He looked by his side, into the deep blue eyes of his fellow researcher. She was young, perhaps the youngest researcher of the group, barely out of her PhD program. Her bright blonde hair, normally tied back in a bun to prevent it from getting caught in sensitive equipment, had been let loose._

 _"I know," he replied. "I am, too."_

 _"Are we going to die here?" the female researcher asked. Tears had begun to form, barely contained in the corners of her eyes._

 _He looked straight into her eyes, placing a steady hand on her shoulder. "I promise we'll make it out of here. One way or another."_

Slowly, Quote's eyes fluttered open. While it was impossible to see the sun where he'd fallen asleep, he could somehow tell that it was well into the morning: perhaps even noon already.

By the time he'd picked himself off of the cavern floor, the dream he'd awoken from had already faded from his memory. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel disappointed that it had ended: dreams were one of the few escapes he had from the crushing boredom that plagued his existence since he'd returned to the Island.

Then again, maybe it was unfair to blame the Island. While coming back to it was Balrog's idea, it was probably a good one. The boredom would have come regardless of whether he'd returned, but the Island's monster population provided a satisfying means of staving it off.

The antennae on Quote's head glowed, and he reached into his dimensional storage space for his weapon of choice. It looked to be nothing more than a simple revolver, no larger than .35 caliber, but behind its deceptively plain appearance was one of the most devastating weapons ever devised by human hands. His gaze hardening, Quote flipped the Spur's safety switch off.

The thought of a new day's hunt filled him with determination.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, it took long enough, but Quote, Curly, and Balrog all finally make an appearance. Jack also returns after seemingly vanishing from the Plantation, though he may still have a few issues of his own to deal with...**


	23. Chapter 22

On the list of strange things that Sue had seen, a talking lunchbox ranked fairly high. It would have probably been higher, were it not for the events of the past two days. He stood atop a battered and crumpled door, having been forcibly broken down and trampled when he burst through the entrance. Surprisingly, the door frame itself had no visible damage, despite his rectangular body appearing too large to fit through it.

"Sans, what's a huzzah?" Papyrus asked.

"Oh, that?" said Sans. "It's kind of like a fancy way of saying 'oh yeah!'"

"Dammit, Balrog!" Jack cried out. "How many times have I told you, you're supposed t _o_ _ _open__ the door before you walk through it!"

Balrog blinked, a flush of embarrassment appearing on his cheeks... if a rectangle could be said to have cheeks. "Whoops! Sorry about that. It's kind of a bad habit."

"Well, it's a habit you need to break! It's only because of the Professor that I'm even allowing you to stay here, so you'd better watch yourself!" Jack carefully lifted up his hat with one hand, and massaged his forehead with the other.

"Hold on a second," Kazuma chimed in. "I remember you. Weren't you one of the Doctor's goons? What are __you__ doing here?"

Sue's body suddenly tensed. Almost reflexively, she felt a strong heat begin to form within her hand, only for it to die down as soon as she recognized it as the same feeling when she'd made her first fireball.

Almost immediately, her fear of the Doctor's minion was replaced with an entirely new fear of her own power. She hadn't even _meant_ to call upon her magic, it had simply happened, as though it were simply an expression of her anxiety.

She didn't have time to ponder it further before Curly cut in. "Hey, it wasn't his fault! He was under the Demon Crown's curse! He had no choice!"

"I can vouch for them both," Professor Booster added. "I believe I'd already told you before how Misery was cursed to obey whoever wore the Demon Crown. Balrog here was likewise afflicted with the same curse. Now that the Crown is gone, I think you'll find he's quite friendly once you get to know him."

Jack mumbled something under his breath, too quiet even for Sue's sensitive hearing to decipher.

"Aw, shucks. You're too kind, Professor," said Balrog. "So what's the deal with these folks, anyway?"

"The Sakamotos are bringing a few guests to vist to the Island," Booster replied. "We were just about to give them a tour of New Mimiga Village, actually. Do you think you could come with us and show them around?"

"Of course!" said Balrog. "I know the village like the back of my hand. Follow me!"

Somehow, Balrog managed to fit himself through the door frame despite its much smaller width, leaving the mostly baffled onlookers to follow suit.

* * *

The area outside the laboratory was a large grassy field, where dozens of small homes had been built. Many of them looked like they were unfinished, with unpainted and unvarnished wood and roofs that were haphazardly placed across the top. The laboratory itself stood out among them like a sore thumb, its clean white tiles, polished windows, and looming three-story structure dwarfing the other houses.

Beyond the houses, an assortment of evergreen trees surrounded the village on all sides. In the distance, roughly a mile away, Sue could see the collapsed ruins of tower wher the Undead Core was kept, and the Balcony overlooking the Island's edge.

"Huh... I didn't think the Island was this big," said Sue.

"Well, we didn't exactly get a lot of time to explore it safely," Kazuma replied. "It's hard to take everything in when you're running for your life."

"As you can see, we've managed to rebuild most of the mimiga settlements," said Booster. "Thanks to the generous funding of our superiors, of course. Doctor Gatsuro has given us nearly everything we need to study the Island and its magic."

"Doctor Gatsuro?" said Alphys. "Is he the one in charge of your research?"

"He's the director of the Supernatural Affairs Agency that led our first expedition to the Island," Itoh replied. "Truth be told, we don't really know much more about him than that. He does seem to admire our work a great deal, though."

"I suppose we do have your research to thank for helping us return to some sort of normalcy in our lives," Jack begrudgingly admitted, "even if it did bring the Doctor here to begin with."

"So what part of the village do you guys want to see first?" said Balrog, oblivious to Jack's apparent discomfort. "We could take a look at the houses, or we could go and visit the lake or the farm. Oh, and there's also the cemetery, too."

"A cemetery?" said Asgore, eyes wide. "What would mimigas need with a cemetery?"

"Strictly speaking, we don't. It's just... well, it's nice to have a place to remember those that we've lost." Jack stared into the distance, a wistful look in his eyes. "I was only a child when the first cemetery was built in the old village, during the Third Demon Crown War. It was impossible to recover the ashes of those who were killed, so we set up gravestones to serve as memorials instead. When Mimiga Village collapsed, we rebuilt them here."

Asgore tilted his head towards the ground. "I see... If you don't mind, I would like to visit there and pay my respects."

"Huh?" said Jack, "You would? Um, well... sure, I guess I can show you. It's just over here, to the East."

Jack walked ahead and circled around the laboratory building, leading the group to the back. Behind the building they could see a small lake, with a number of large lily pads strewn about the surface. Beyond the lake were several more houses, and a small plot with numerous gravestones, surrounded by an decorative metal fence.

As they made their way past the laboratory, their path crossed with another mimiga. In his left hand he carried a bucket, and in his right was a fishing rod hoisted over his shoulder.

"Oh, hey Kanpachi!" said Curly. "Going fishing again?"

"Yup. Haven't had much luck recently, but I was hoping..."

Kanpachi's jaw suddenly dropped mid-sentence. He involuntarily released his grip on the bucket handle, sending it clanging onto the ground.

Undyne stared at Kanpachi quizically. "Um... is he okay?"

 _Thwap!_

" _Ow!_ What the hell?!"

Undyne looked to see what had hit her, and found a sharp hook with an ornate lure dangling right in front of her face. The fishing line jostled, leaving the hook swaying wildly in the air before her.

"Come on!" said Kanpachi. "Look at the tasty food! Doesn't it make you want to take a big, juicy bite?"

Undyne clenched her fists by her sides, her entire body quivering in rage.

" _I'M NOT A FISH!_ "


	24. Chapter 23

Following Undyne's outburst, Jack had stepped in to intervene. After giving a profuse apology, Jack had explained the situation, leaving a profoundly annoyed Undyne to insist that her own species be correctly identified.

"I'm a water nymph. _Not_ a fish. Got that?"

"Fine, whatever." Kanpachi rolled his eyes, the explanation clearly not going appreciated. He abruptly walked away from the conversation, mumbling something under his breath. Though the rest of Kanpachi's comment was inaudible, Sue could clearly make out the word "dustling" being uttered with disdain.

Jack groaned. "I was worried something like this would happen." He turned to Undyne, pointing at her accusingly. "I'd better not see you cause any more trouble like that. It's been difficult enough lately as it is."

"Hey, he started it!" said Undyne.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," Jack retorted. "Now come on, the cemetery is this way."

Jack led the group through the rest of the village, and within a short time they'd arrived at the cemetery gate. The metal bars of the gate and its surrounding fence were clean and shiny, untarnished by age and wear, and beyond them the group could see a multitude of gravestones embedded in the dirt, their surfaces still smooth from their carving. The only indication of age within the cemetery at all was the tall grass, which had remained uncut.

Jack approached the front of the gates, where a small padlock had been placed on the front. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a skeleton key and inserted into the keyhole. The lock came undone, and the gates opened, leading the way into the cemetery beyond.

"Alright, we're here," said Jack. "Asgore, you can come in and take a look at whatever you want to. The rest of you, wait here."

"Why?" said Sue. "Can't we see the cemetery, too?"

"Sorry, no outsiders allowed," Jack replied. "It would threaten the sanctity of our dead. I can make an exception for Asgore because he was our king, but I can't let anyone else in."

"What? You've gotta be kidding!" Undyne cried out. "You brought us all the way out here just to stop us from actually seeing anything?"

"H-hey, _I'm_ the number one in this village!" said Jack. "That means you'll respect my authority!"

"That's _enough,_ Jack," said Professor Booster. "I understand that you want to be a strong leader, but there's no need to antagonize our guests for the sake of keeping up appearances."

Jack froze, staring at Booster in disbelief. "What? No! That's not... I'm not..."

"None of us bear the mimigas any ill will, Jack," said Booster. "The Island is at peace. You mustn't push others away like this."

Jack paused, a vast range of emotions playing out across his face. His body tensed, then relaxed again. Finally, he let out a sigh of defeat. "I... I guess you're right. I'll go ahead and let everyone in. But whatever you do, _don't touch anything._ Got that?"

Without any fanfare, Jack led the others into the cemetery.

* * *

The interior of the cemetery was suprisingly large, more so than it appeared from the outside. Given the number of supernatural things she'd witnessed on the Island, Sue was unsure if she'd underestimated the cemetery's size, or if there it really _was_ bigger on the inside. A melancholy atmosphere surrounded her, and even the sunlight had seemed to fade slightly, as though light itself were consciously avoiding the area.

Most of the others had already begun to disperse, taking the time to get a closer look at the individual tombstones. Her mother and Kazuma remained close by, both of which looked very uncomfortable at the constant reminder of death.

Despite the eerie environment, Sue couldn't help but be curious. There were a lot more graves than she would have expected, and she soon found herself yearning to see the names of those that had been lost.

"Hey mom, do you mind if I went and looked around for a bit?" Sue asked.

"Hm? Oh no, not at all," Momorin replied. "But be careful not to disturb anything."

"Alright, thanks."

Waving her mother off, Sue walked away, towards a set of gravestones that had been carved into a variety of different shapes. The most distinctive of them resembled statues of mimigas, presumably in the likeness of those that they memorialized. Others were plainer, though they themselves bore no shortage of tributes, many graves littered with flowers and other offerings of respect. The names of the deceased were inscribed on each of the graves, though none of them were names that Sue recognized.

As she made her way across the plot of land, she eventually discovered another tombstone, much like the ones she'd seen before. At first, it had appeared to be no different than the others: its design was rounded and unremarkable, and there were no decorations aside from a slightly larger amount of flowers placed directly in front of it. Nevertheless, what Sue saw inscribed on the grave made her stop in her tracks.

 **Toroko Pendragon**

 **210X-211X**

Sue stared at the grave, eyes wide, struggling to process what it was that she saw before her. Her mouth hung open, voice barely able to escape as a whisper.

"Toroko? She's... dead?"

In hindsight, it was more than obvious. The last she'd heard of Toroko was that she'd been kidnapped by one of the Doctor's minions. In a cruel instance of mistaken identity, they had taken her thinking she was Sue. Sue vividly recalled being blamed for it by King, imprisoned in the hopes he could exchange her life for Toroko's. Before she could find out what had happened to Toroko, Sue was taken away along with the rest of the village and sent to the Plantation.

In the chaos that followed, Sue had completely forgotten about her. Toroko was the first native to the Island that had tried to understand her, the first person in the village that she felt she could trust. It was hard to tell because of the mimigas' naturally short stature, but the dates on the grave had made it clear that she was only a child, only slightly older than Sue herself.

And now she was dead, gone forever. And knowing King, it was almost certain that they had both died on his attempted rescue mission.

A tear began to form in Sue's eye. She leaned forward, placing her hand on the cool granite of the gravestone.

"How could I have forgotten?" she uttered. "When I thought I'd lost everything, you alone were kind to me. I... I..."

Sue's hand began to shake, and she fought to hold back the tears that were now pooling in the corners of her eyes.

"I never even got to say goodbye!" she sobbed. "T-this is all my fault! If the Doctor had taken me instead, this never would have happened! You're dead and it's all because of me!"

"Don't be ridiculous."

Sue let out a yelp, turning around to face the sudden voice behind her. She saw standing behind her the unmistakable bulk of Balrog. The perpetual dopey grin on his face was gone, and he looked down at Sue with an uncharacteristically solemn expression.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Sue demanded. "Can't you see I'm busy mourning my friend?"

"That's what I came here for," said Balrog. "It's... it's hard for me to explain, but I feel like I owe it to Toroko."

"What?" said Sue. "Why?"

Balrog paused, shifting nervously. "I, well... I hurt a lot of people when I worked for the Doctor. I didn't really have a choice, since I was cursed to obey anyone who wore the Demon Crown. When I was freed from the Crown, I just... I felt like I had to make it up to the mimigas somehow. So I brought us back to the Island to help them rebuild."

Sue turned around and stared back at Balrog, her eyes unyieldingly focusing on every detail. His discomfort quickly grew even more pronounced, his nervous shifting turning to outright squrming. Sweat began to form on his body, and his eyes darted back and forth, desperately avoiding eye contact.

"There's something here you're not telling me." It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact.

"Look, I just feel _really_ awful about everything that happened!" Balrog blurted out. "I'm sorry if it doesn't seem like it, but it's true! I've never felt anything like it before, and I just want it to stop! So please don't hate me, okay!?"

Balrog's entire body quivered from his outburst, looking as though he were on the verge of tears. Looking at him now, Sue couldn't help but take pity on him.

"Hey, it's alright," she reassured. "I actually believe you. I just wanted to know what the full story is, that's all."

"I don't really want to talk about it right now," said Balrog. "Just... try not blame yourself for what happened to Toroko. It isn't your fault, no matter what you think."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sue admitted. She raised her arm, wiping her lingering tears away with her sleeve. "Thanks, Balrog."

"No problem," said Balrog. "Thanks for being understanding with me."

* * *

Were she younger, Toriel would have found the constant reminder of death in the cemetery to be unsettling. After so many centuries of living, however, she had endured the loss of so many that she'd cared about, so many that she'd deeply loved, that it was difficult to feel anything at all. Despite having once been the queen of mimigas, the civilization she'd left behind on the Island was such a distant memory that they almost felt altogether alien.

Looking across the gravestones, and seeing their names, she almost wished that she'd felt more for the loss of life, but after the recent reminder that Asgore had taken away so many of her children, nothing she could have felt would compare. The only thing that was left was numbness, a dull ache within her soul that she had constantly lived with since the day she'd abandoned the throne.

Frisk tagged along close by as she'd surveyed the cemetery, looking at her with the deepest sympathy within his eyes. She looked down at him in turn and smiled warmly. Her new child had given her a sense hope that she had abandoned long ago.

Her attention was soon turned towards a set of four gravestones in the far corner of the cemetery. Standing in front of them was Curly, her head bowed low. As they approached, Curly turned to face them and greeted them cheerfully.

"Oh, hi there!" she said. "It's Toriel, right? I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you since we were introduced."

"That is correct," said Toriel. "It is nice to meet you, Curly. Frisk, why don't you say hello?"

Frisk stared at Curly curiously. "You're a killer robot, right?"

"Frisk, do not be rude," Toriel scolded.

Curly let out a small chuckle. "Oh, it's no problem, miss Toriel. I'm certainly a robot, though I wouldn't exactly call myself a killer."

"Are you sure about that?" Frisk winked, pointing both of his index fingers at Curly. "You must have killed me, because I think I think just died and went to heaven!"

" _Frisk!_ "

Curly's eyes suddenly went wide. A sharp red flush appeared on her cheeks, and the sound of an internal cooling fan came to life, filling the air with a loud whirr. "Oh, um... wow. Quite the precocious one, huh?"

"Never you mind that," said Toriel. "Frisk, why not go and play with Sue? I am sure your friend would enjoy your company."

Frisk shrugged. "Yeah, alright." Without another word, he left to explore the rest of the cemetery.

"I am very sorry about that," said Toriel.

Curly giggled. "Oh, it's no problem at all. It was just, um... a bit unexpected, that's all. What do you think the Island so far?"

Toriel paused, the question brining forth memories that she had not considered in a very long time. "Well... truth be told, I am not entirely certain. It has been centuries since I was last here, and everything has changed so much. I do not really know what to think of all of it."

"I see," said Curly. "Well regardless, I hope you enjoy your stay here!"

"Thank you," Toriel replied. "There is something that I am curious about, however."

"Oh?" said Curly. "What's that?"

Toriel looked straight into Curly's eyes, a look of deep concern forming across her muzzle. "I have lived a very long time, and seen the faces of many people. I can tell when someone is truly happy, and when they are merely wearing happiness as a mask. Tell me, Curly Brace... who was it that you lost?"

Curly said nothing, her smile slowly fading away. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely audible at all. "My children. I lost my children."

Toriel let out a gasp, feeling a pang of terrible familiarity. "Oh my goodness..."

"I woke up on the Island with no memory of who I was, apart from my name," Curly explained. "The first people I found were four little mimigas whose parents had been taken away. I decided to look after them, not because I really cared about them, but because I had nothing else to do. But the more time I spent with them, the more I grew to love them as though they were my own. Then the Doctor came..." Curly's words died out mid-sentence. She looked distraught, as though she were crying, though her body could produce no tears to show for it.

"I... I was seperated from them when all the mimigas were kidnapped and hauled off to the Plantation," she sobbed. "I haven't seen them since. I've always held onto the distant hope that they may have survived, but... I know they're all dead by now. I... I couldn't even save a single one of them! What kind of mother am I?"

Toriel approached Curly, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "I understand exactly how you feel."

"Y-you do?" said Curly, looking up at Toriel with desperate eyes.

"Yes. I too have lost several of my children," said Toriel. "Though I know nothing can fully take away the pain, know that you are not alone. Whatever you are suffering through, I shall be there with you."

Curly trembled anxiously under the weight of Toriel's eyes. Suddenly, she turned around and wrapped her arms around Toriel, embracing her tightly.

"Thank you," she whispered. "Thank you, Toriel."

* * *

Frisk scanned the cemetery for any sign of Sue, hoping to find his friend. He knew there wasn't a lot they could do together there, but he certainly enjoyed her company enough. As he glanced around the area, he saw Papyrus and Mettaton excitedly chattering with one another, Alphys fiddling with her soul scouter, and Undyne leaning back on a gravestone looking bored. Itoh and Professor Booster were both speaking with Momorin and Kazuma about something, and Asgore was giving something that appeared to be some kind of advice to Jack. Balrog was off in another part of the cemetery with Sue, both looking deeply emotional about something.

Before he could begin to approach any of them, Frisk heard a voice singing just behind him. In was an unmistakable tune, a familiar _tra la la_ that he had heard many times in the Underground.

Frisk turned around and saw a figure wearing a purple hooded cloak sitting on top of one of the graves. He opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off before he could vocalize his thoughts.

"You're about to ask me what I'm doing here," said the figure. "You may think you know who I am, but do you really? Perhaps I'm just the Riverperson, but perhaps I'm more than meets the eye..."

Frisk crossed his arms, glaring unamusedly at the robed figure. "Alright, get to the point. You and I both know that you're here for _something._ "

"I knew you'd say that," they replied. "I am here to deliver a message for you. A letter, if you will. Feel free to read it, if you wish..."

The figure reached into their robe, and pulled out a plain white envelope, holding it out in front of them invitingly. Frisk approach the figure and took the letter out of their hand, carefully ripping it open. Inside was a single sheet of paper with a simple poem in fanciful script, the ink still fresh from writing.

 _Hopes and Dreams reborn as one_

 _Angel's fall and Devil's son_

 _Estranged shall hear the black wind's call_

 _One shall live, the other shall fall._

 _\- C.F._

"Um, what's this supposed to mean?"

Frisk looked up, and saw his question answered only by an empty robe fluttering away in the wind.


	25. Chapter 24

Papyrus surveyed the cemetery carefully, taking the time to absorb his surroundings. There was a scent of mold and dirt that pervaded the cold, clammy air. He glanced around the area, paying especially close attention to the unfamiliar stones embedded in the dirt. Though their design was entirely unfamiliar to him, the names and dates inscribed on them left no doubt in his mind what they were meant to represent.

Death was never something that he'd concerned himself with. Yet here it was all around him, impossible to ignore. It brought a deep feeling of discomfort to his soul, and he fidgeted desperately, trying to find something to take it off his mind.

As he glanced around, he took notice of Mettaton, who stood in solitude a distance away. In his right hand was a small pocket mirror, which he stared into thoughtfully as he carefully parted his hair with his other hand. Putting the discomfort out of his mind, Papyrus approached him.

"Greetings, Mettaton!"

"I _really_ should have brought my hairbrush… oh?" As Mettaton took notice of Papyrus, the heart on his abdomen glowed briefly, and his mirror vanished into extradimensional space. "What can I do for you?"

"Me? Well, I was just wondering if I could say hello to my favorite TV star. If you don't mind, that is…"

Mettaton let out a chuckle. "Don't mind? Why of _course_ I don't mind! Whatever you need, I'm all ears!"

"That's great!" said Papyrus. "I don't have ears, so now you have enough for the both of us! Anyway… I suppose I wanted to ask how you were doing. Are you enjoying the Island so far?"

"Hmm… well, it's alright I suppose," said Mettaton. "I was expecting something a little bit more exciting. Surely a long-lost monster settlement above the surface should have more material to work with, right? A bit of drama, perhaps even a little bit of action to go with it! But no, all we've done is stand around in an old cemetery."

"It _is_ rather gloomy, I'll admit," said Papyrus. "But that doesn't mean there's nothing interesting about it! Like being on a giant floating landmass in the sky! And, erm... well, I'm sure there's more! Maybe we can go see someplace on the Island that's less… death-ish."

"Oh, is this place making you uncomfortable? It never really crossed my mind that it would bother you," said Mettaton. "I'm rather familiar with this sort of spooky atmosphere, believe it or not. While I certainly have no problem with it, it just lacks a certain… _je ne sais quoi_ that I've only found in show business.

"Ah, but there I go again blabbing about myself," he continued. "I'd love to hear more about one of my loyal fans. Papyrus, was it?"

"You… you remembered my name!" Papyrus declared.

"Well, you _are_ the Ambassador of monsters," said Mettaton. "It'd certainly be a shame if I didn't remember meeting someone so important."

Papyrus began to tremble in excitement. "I… I don't believe it! After all these years, I'm finally getting the recognition that I've always wanted! Thank you, Mettaton! You've been such an inspiration to me!"

"Glad to hear it, darling," said Mettaton. "How it warms my heart to know that I've helped so many follow their dreams!"

"Well… to be honest, it wasn't really my original plan," said Papyrus.

Mettaton raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"My dream has always to become a member of the Royal Guard," said Papyrus. "All I had to do was capture a human, and I'd be revered as the savior of monsterkind!"

Mettaton's eyes widened briefly, though he quickly concealed his initial surprise. "A royal guard? …Well, with your charm, I'm certain you would have done well at whatever you set your mind to."

"You bet I would!" said Papyrus. "Undyne herself had personally trained me for three years! Had I the chance to finish my training, I would have surely become the best Royal Guard ever?"

Mettaton's smile finally crumbled away, revealing a worried frown. "Three years? Oh dear…"

"Erm, yes. Is… is something the matter?" said Papyrus.

"Alphys has told me about the Royal Guard before," said Mettaton. "She knows quite a lot about how it operates… for obvious reasons, of course. From what I've heard from her, it usually only takes two months for a recruit to complete their training."

Papyrus felt a bead of sweat beginning to drip down his cranium. "T-two months? Mettaton, what are you saying?"

"Truthfully darling, I'm not quite so sure," Mettaton replied. "But I do think that it's for the best that you don't worry too much about being a guard. What you have now is an opportunity to change the world that few other monsters will ever know. You'll be a wonderful ambassador, I'm certain."

"Alright… if you say so," said Papyrus. "I um… need to go to the bathroom. I'll see you later, I suppose."

Papyrus walked away in solitude, pondering what he'd just heard. As he did, a single question weighed heavily on his mind, drowning out all other thoughts.

 _Two months of training… Was Undyne holding me back?_

* * *

"It's been a while since we've gotten a chance to speak face-to-face, hasn't it?" said Kazuma, addressing Itoh and Professor Booster. The others had mostly dispersed into their own separate groups, leaving himself and Momorin the only others present.

"Indeed it has," said Booster. "I've heard you've acquired your master's degree in archeology in the meantime. Congratulations on that, by the way."

"Thanks," Kazuma replied. "Dr. Kosugi says I'm the youngest in Ebotyo University's history. I'll probably be taking a break for a while before I start studying for my PhD."

Itoh chuckled. "Dr. Kosugi, huh? Small world we live in. Lemeza and I were roommates in university. Kept me up all night with his crackpot theories."

"Tell me about it," said Kazuma. "Ever since he got tenure he hasn't stopped talking about them."

"That's beside the point," Professor Booster interjected. "There's something much more important you and your mother need to know about."

"Oh? Do tell," said Momorin.

Itoh coughed. "Well, um… you see… we don't think it'll be possible for Sue and I to become human again."

" _What!?_ " Kazuma blurted out, his sentiments echoed by Momorin.

Momorin gave Itoh an intense frown. "What do you _mean_ my daughter can't be human again?"

"I… I'm sorry, but I don't know what I can do!" said Itoh. "What we found out while working on the latest transmogrifier changed everything!"

"This whole time, we were working off of the assumption that a mimiga's body was made out of matter," Booster added. "A completely reasonable assumption, but by no means an accurate one."

"What?" said Kazuma. "What do you mean their bodies aren't not made of matter? How is that even _possible?_ "

"H-hey, don't ask me!" said Itoh. "We hardly even know what it is ourselves! Very little of our bodies are made of atoms or molecules. Instead, it's made of this… stuff."

"Stuff? Is that the best name you have for it?" said Momorin. "You're a man of science, not a teenager!"

"Well, I'd like to see anyone else come up with a better name for it," Itoh replied. "Unlike matter, it's infinitely divisible, and doesn't appear to be composed of any elementary particles. Transmogrifying a body made of matter would be relatively easy, but this… I don't know _what_ we can do with this. How can we make ourselves human again if we don't even know what it is we're made of?"

"That's an easy one. You're made of magic."

Kazuma nearly jumped at Sans's sudden voice. He likely would have done so had he not been distracted by Itoh's yelp as he quite literally jumped in surprise. Momorin simply turned towards the skeleton and glared.

"Don't _do_ that! You almost scared me half to death!" said Itoh.

"Personally, I'm a bit more concerned with his eavesdropping," said Professor Booster. "In case you didn't notice, Sans, this was _supposed_ to be a private conversation."

Sans shrugged. "My bad. But I thought you might want an explanation. See, we monsters mostly don't have any matter in us. Our bodies are made almost entirely made of magic."

"They're _made_ of magic?" said Kazuma.

"Yup," said Sans. "Most of the matter we have is just dust that holds our form together. The rest is magical energy that projects directly from our souls. Think of it like… a solid magical hologram."

"I think I remember Alphys mentioning something like that, actually," said Momorin. "She said you would need to convert matter to magical energy to turn a human into a monster."

"Yup," said Sans. "More importantly, you'd need to have immense power to do so. By my own estimate, at least as much as a monster with two human souls. That'd be enough to level Ebotyo ten times over."

Kazuma's jaw hung open. Silence hung over the area as he and the others simply gaped. After an uncomfortably long period, Itoh finally spoke.

"Good lord… I had no idea Misery could have been so powerful."

"To be fair," said Momorin, "we never saw her do anything to show she was using her full strength. She always let the Doctor's minions do her dirty work whenever she could."

"But all the records we've found suggest her power was restrained by the Demon Crown," said Kazuma. "If the power to turn a human into a mimiga is enough to destroy Ebotyo multiple times, and even _that_ wasn't her full strength…"

Kazuma's words died off in his throat. He turned towards Sans, and saw that the lights in his eye sockets had gone completely dark. In a grave voice, Sans spoke.

" _And do you know where Misery is right now?_ "


	26. Chapter 25

A heavy weight pressed down on Asgore's heart as he surveyed the tombstones. Though he had long since grown used to the sight of death, the sight was nonetheless profoundly unsettling. The dead memorialized here were not ones to have peacefully departed. He bowed his head, silently mourning the many whom had been lost.

Standing just behind Asgore was Jack, staring at him pitifully. "So… as you've probably guessed by now, we've been through some rough times."

Asgore didn't reply at first. He glanced at a tombstone placed in front of him, and then slowly turned to face Jack. With a deep and weary sigh, he spoke.

"This Island was meant to be a safe haven for our kind. Had I known such tragedy would befall it… perhaps I may have acted differently. The decision to leave was not one Toriel and I made lightly."

"Yeah… there was something I was wondering about that," said Jack. "Why _did_ you leave?"

"Oh? You don't know?"

"Well… no," said Jack. "There are stories of you leading us, but none of them ever say what happened to you. I'd just assumed you'd grown old and died, but it doesn't seem you age like the rest of us do."

"No, I certainly don't," said Asgore, smiling softly. "I haven't aged beyond my prime for a long time now."

"Great, but that doesn't answer my question," Jack retorted. "Why did you leave us? We were your subjects, right? Why did you abandon us?"

Asgore hesitated. He looked Jack straight into his pleading eyes, struggling to find the right words to answer with.

"…Our desire was to aid those that still needed us," Asgore finally spoke. "At the time, many peoples still faced extinction at the hands of the human empires. Toriel and I left for the surface to aid the remaining monsters in their struggle."

Jack stared up at Asgore, eyes wide. "Is… is that why you brought all those dustlings with you?"

"Dustlings?" said Asgore. "Would you care to elaborate? I've heard you use that word before, but I am unsure what it means."

"Yes, dustlings!" said Jack. "Outsiders! Monsters that aren't us! Are you saying you abandoned us for… for _them?_ "

"Oh… oh dear," said Asgore, his eyes widening. The implications of Jack's sudden outburst were not lost on him.

"You have no idea what they _did_ to us, do you?" said Jack. "There's a reason our ancestral home in the Sand Zone's been abandoned. You won't find anything there but ruins now, and it's all because of them! Ánd you come here not only bringing _more_ dustlings with you, but you're telling me you left us behind for them?"

Asgore's eyes narrowed, staring down at Jack intensely. The smaller mimiga flinched under the weight of his gaze, which carried with it a millennia of authority.

"Now you listen here, Jack. Whatever it is the other monsters of this Island may have done, my subjects had absolutely nothing to do with it. We fought together for our very right to exist on the surface, and spent more than a thousand years suffering together beneath the earth. I will _not_ tolerate any prejudice against them. Do I make myself clear?"

Jack let out an audible gulp. "…Alright. Fine. But I'm _only_ letting your 'subjects' stay here because Momorin trusts them. Don't forget that."

Without another word, Jack turned around and walked towards the cemetery entrance. As he approached the gates, he hollered back at the rest of the group.

" _Alright, time's up! Everyone out!_ "

The sound of the shout cut clear across the plot of land, freezing all of the bystanders in their tracks.

" _What!? Why!?_ " Sue shouted back.

" _Because this is sacred ground! Now come on, let's get moving!_ "

With a degree of emotions ranging from disappointment to relief, the others gathered at the entrance, and Jack opened the door to let them through.

* * *

"So you haven't seen Tenryu since she was released?"

"We've been tracking her location via GPS, but she hasn't been on the Island since she left. Thankfully, her habitat seems to be limited to the nature preserve surrounding us, so we don't have to worry about her being seen."

"Ah... I see. I was hoping I could get a chance to meet her again..."

Alphys had only barely managed to pick up the conversation between Kazuma and Itoh as she followed the rest of the group across the village. She continued to work on her soul scouter, carefully adjusting the machinery with a pocket screwdriver through an open panel in the back.

"Hey Alphys, pay attention! We're here!" Undyne said.

"Huh?" Alphys looked up, and saw that they had indeed arrived back at the laboratory, its door still left broken and crumpled falling inwards into the building proper. "Oh, um... sorry! I was a little bit preoccupied. What are we doing here, exactly?"

"Didn't you hear the Professor?" said Kazuma. "We're having lunch, then we're going to be heading back home."

"So soon?" said Alphys. "We barely got to see any of the Island at all."

"Hey, I'm not complaining," said Sans. "Traveling sounds like a lot of work." His comment earned him a glare from Alphys, as well as Papyrus and Frisk.

Professor Booster led the group through the door frame, and they group continued into the laboratory, past the room with the teleporter and assorted lab machinery and towards another doorway. As they approached the second door, Jack ran forward and opened it, directing a glare at a sheepish Balrog.

Beyond the door was a hallway filled with pristine white tiles, not unlike the laboratory they had departed from. The corridor was short, containing only a few windowless doors labeled as living quarters. They continued towards the corridor's end, towards another pair of double doors, with a small cafeteria visible beyond. As they approached, a sudden thought crossed Alphys's mind.

"Hey Curly," said Alphys, turning towards the blonde robot, "I was just wondering, are you even able to eat? I know Mettaton can, but it would be kind of strange to leave you out because you couldn't."

"Oh, that? You don't need to worry," said Curly. "I don't really need to eat, but I can if I want to."

"R-right, of course," said Alphys. "Um... if you don't _need_ to eat, would you mind if I went in the other room and took a look at you?"

"...Huh?" said Curly.

Alphys began to feel sweat condensing on her forehead. "N-not in a weird way, of course! Just enough to, um... you know."

"Know _what?_ "

"Hey Alphys, what's the holdup? Come join us! Don't you wanna share a lunch with me?" Undyne called out.

Startled, Alphys turned around, and saw Undyne standing beside entrance to the cafeteria. She realized that as she and Curly had spoken, the rest had moved on without them, leaving only Undyne still in the hallway.

"Um... actually, I think I'll pass!" Alphys shouted back. "I want to take a moment to check out Curly's body!"

Curly suddenly froze. Her face flushed deep red, and the sound of a cooling fan began to drown out the laboratory's ambient noise. Across the hall, Undyne stared at Alphys incredulously.

"W-wh-what! No! I-I didn't mean it like that! I... I...!" Before she could even finish her sentence, Alphys reflexively buried her face in her hands, wanting nothing more than to disappear.

"Oh, I get it," said Undyne. "You want to understand the technology she's built with, right?"

"Huh?" Alphys uncovered her eyes, and looked at Undyne. "You... you're not mad?"

"Are you kidding?" said Undyne. "You really think I'd catch you perving on some robot girl? I know you're better than that, Alphys. Anyway, I'm going to be heading in. You want I should bring you something?"

"Oh, um... if they have any ramen cups, could you get me one of those?"

"Sure thing!" said Undyne, grinning ear-to-ear. She loudly pushed the cafeteria door open and headed in, disappearing from the hall.

Alphys let out a sigh of relief. "Um... sorry about that," she said, giggling nervously.

"Does she think I'm not good enough for you?" said Curly.

Alphys's jaw dropped. "W-what?"

"Kidding! Only kidding!" Curly hastily reassured. "So how about we head over to the lab? There's some space on the table if you want to look."

* * *

Curly sat on on the edge of one of the tables, just before Alphys. There multitude of diagnostic tools hung just behind her on the wall, and the space appeared specifically set up just to accommodate her.

"So I take it Professor Booster's given you a check-up before?" said Alphys.

"That's right," Curly replied. "I don't think he really understands anything about me, though. He just says I'm far more advanced than the robots that were sent to the Island eleven years ago."

"I see," said Alphys. "Just out of curiosity, were you anything else before you were a robot? Like... a ghost, maybe?"

"Huh?" said Curly. "Um... no, I'm pretty sure I was always a robot. Why would you even ask such a strange question?"

"You've already shown the capacity to care about others," Alphys explained. "That means you have a soul. But since you're an artificial being, you couldn't have been born with it naturally. Either you gained it from somewhere else, or whoever built you was able to build an artificial soul for you as well."

"An artificial soul? Is such a thing even possible?"

"I... don't know," replied Alphys. "Theoretically it should be, but... I really have no idea how a soul would be made in practice."

Alphys averted her gaze from Curly, feeling like the gravity of her past actions were pressing down on her, pushing the air out of her lungs. She tried as hard as she could to think about it, but the memories continued to drift over her mind like a dense fog.

"Are you okay, Alphys?" said Curly.

"I... I'm fine. Just give me a second." Alphys reached into a pocket on her lab coat, and pulled out the soul scouter, tapping on the screen with a claw. "With this, I should be able to—"

Alphys cut herself off mid-sentence with a gasp, letting the soul scouter drop to the floor with a clatter. She stepped backwards, staring at Curly Brace with eyes as wide as tennis balls, and both of her hands clasped over her mouth.

"C-curly! Your soul! It's... It's..."

Curly blinked. "It's what?"

"...It's _human!_ "


	27. Chapter 26

"My soul is… human?"

"It… would seem so, yes," said Alphys, staring pensively at Curly Brace. She knelt down to the floor and picked up the soul scouter, which thankfully seemed undamaged.

"But how?" said Curly.

"That's something you'll have to tell me," said Alphys. "The idea that your creator could have gotten their hands on a human soul is… worrying, to say the least."

"But I don't even know who my creator is," said Curly. "The first thing I remember is being sent with Quote to fight the invading robots eleven years ago. I don't know any of the details beyond that."

"I see…" said Alphys. She took another glance at the soul scouter, seeing the stats pop up as she examined Curly's soul more closely. She saw beside it the LV indicator, with a number '14' displayed next to it. The sight put a sickening knot in her stomach, but it was entirely understandable. If she was intended to be a soldier, then…

Alphys was hit by an epiphany, and she would have dropped the soul scouter again had she not caught herself. "C-curly, I need to take a closer look at you!" she said, hastily tucking the device into her coat. "It's really important!"

"Oh?" said Curly. "Is this about my soul?"

"Y-yes. I have a hypothesis, but I'll need to confirm it. Before I begin though, um…" Alphys paused mid-sentence, and began to twiddle her thumbs. She felt a bead of sweat beginning to form on her forehead. "…y-you're obviously meant to look human, so I'm wondering, are you…. a-anatomically correct?"

Curly said nothing, staring at Alphys vacantly. Slowly, comprehension dawned on the android's face, and she gave a wry smile. "Oh, I get it. Don't worry, my body's not _that_ human. It's not like a robot would have any need for—"

"O-okay, point taken!" Alphys interjected. "I-I-I just need to take a closer look, that's all! So um… just, uh, t-take your clothes off?"

Everything suddenly went quiet. Alphys could feel the sweat dripping down her face like a waterfall, and she found herself actively fighting the urge to hide in embarrassment.

"…alright, sure."

"W-what?" said Alphys.

"Hey, I don't mind. It's for science, right?" said Curly. "Better not tell your girlfriend, though."

Alphys let out a yelp. " _Don't even joke about that!"_

* * *

"Wait, you were _possessed?_ " said Frisk.

"Yeah. Me, Misery, and the Core," Sue replied, taking a bite of a grilled cheese sandwich. She and Frisk both sat at one of the several tables laid out across the cafeteria, eating a meal that had been served by a very blocky-looking robot at the serving area. Save for a conspicuously absent Mettaton, the others had sat at their own tables, and appeared to be making small talk. As Sue thoughtfully chewed her meal, she distinctly recalling the discomfort Mettaton had displayed at meeting him.

 _Actually, didn't that robot say it used to make bombs? I guess it is a bit weird that it's preparing food now..._

Frisk winced. "Geez, that sounds awful. How'd you manage to get out of that one?"

Sue swallowed the bite she'd taken of the sandwich, taking some satisfaction that that it didn't immediately dissolve into nothingness. "Oh, uh… I guess I just sorta snapped out of it?"

Frisk frowned. "Come on Sue, tell the truth."

Sue let out a groan. "Okay fine, you got me. I got the crap beaten out of me until I came to my senses. That soldier who saved me turned out to be _really_ tough… I guess his name's Quote?"

Frisk stared back at Sue, raising an eyebrow. "And what about the Island's core? Didn't you say the Island would fall without it?"

"It _did_ , but it stopped," Sue explained. "The Island used to be a lot higher in the sky. My brother told me that the core wasn't keeping the Island afloat, it was preventing some other force from tearing it down. Quote must have destroyed that, too. Good thing he did, we probably wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Yeesh," said Frisk. "Sounds like you were in a lot of danger."

"Hey, I can handle it!" Sue boasted. "Heck, I actually survived jumping off the Island once!"

"You _what?_ "

"Yeah, it was really intense!" said Sue. "I thought we were all going to crash and die, so I just went with my gut."

Frisk blinked. "…I can believe that, actually."

* * *

Curly's body, true to her word, was completely devoid of any anatomical features beyond basic humanoid shape. She almost looked as though she were a giant children's doll.

Not that it made Alphys any less flustered.

"S-so, um… do you think you could stand up for me?"

"Alright, sure," said Curly. She lifted herself off of the table and dropped to the floor, standing up on her feet.

"G-great! Let's see here…" trying her hardest to purge the impure thoughts from her mind, Alphys closely examined Curly's body, searching for any notable features. She prodded cautiously at the exposed mechanical joints on her legs, making note of their structure as well as the soft plastic that covered her body. "U-um, could you turn around for me?"

Curly wordlessly complied, rotating herself so that her back was facing Alphys.

Alphys's eyes suddenly widened at the sight. Printed across Curly's back, in bold letters, was a single word.

 ** _ΩΜ_** **_ΊΓΑ_**

"Oh… oh my God."

"What? Is something wrong?" said Curly.

"Um, no," Alphys replied. "It's just, well… are you aware that there's something written on your back?"

"…No, I'm fairly sure I've never looked at my back," said Curly. "Why, what does it say?"

"W-well, I'm not sure," said Alphys. "It's written in the language of the Olive Coast. I can recognize it, but I don't know how to read it."

"Olive Coast?"

"Yeah," Alphys affirmed. "It's a human nation bordering the Midland Sea. In the ancient world, they were renowned for their art, science, and philosophy. They had an enormous impact on numerous culture… including the viashino."

"Viashino?" said Curly. "I don't think I know what that is, either."

"Oh yeah, that's right," said Alphys. "You must not have heard of us. It's, um… the name of my species. Before the war with humans, we were used by the Olivians as a slave race. We were usually given names derived from our status among our masters. The highest were the Alphas, who were the personal house servants to the wealthy. The lowest were Omegas, who mostly did hard physical labor."

"Alpha… so that's why your name is Alphys?"

"Um… yeah," Alphys replied. "My ancestors were the servants of Olivian kings. Even though we stopped being slaves a long time ago, we never really broke the tradition of giving names derived from our slave caste."

"But that's horrible!" Curly interjected. "What kind of people would go about enslaving an entire race?"

Alphys closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. "They… they did it because were stronger than us. Back then that was all that mattered. And when they learned _we_ could become stronger than _them_ , they nearly drove us to extinction."

"Gosh, I'm so sorry…." said Curly. "Nobody should ever have to go through that."

"Yeah… thanks. There's no need to worry about that. Things are different now," Alphys replied with a smile. "But I digress. It looks like there isn't anything I can do to look at your inner workings right now, though if my hypothesis is correct…"

Alphys paused. What she was about to say would not come lightly to anyone.

"What is it?" said Curly.

"…you may be one of the most powerful beings in existence."

Curly abruptly turned around to face Alphys. "Wait, _what?_ "

Alphys jumped back at the sudden movement. Quickly regaining her composure, she answered. "W-well, you see, it's like this… human souls are _really_ powerful. Just one is equal to hundreds of thousands of monster souls. But more than that, human souls contain _infinite_ energy. The only limitation is that the human body is tremendously inefficient at extracting it. Without outside intervention, it would likely take decades of training for a human to cast a single spell."

Curly stared at Alphys, a twinkle of curiosity in her eye. "Go on…"

"…Monsters, by contrast, have weak souls, but extremely efficient bodies," Alphys continued. "So if you have a monster with a human soul, you have a being that not only has infinite soul energy, but can also convert it to raw magical power with much greater ease. But you're not a monster with a human soul. You're a _machine_ with a human soul _._ And machines… they have the potential to be even _more_ efficient than monsters. You could very well be the strongest person alive… Well, maybe."

"Maybe?"

"Er… it's hard to say. Without taking a closer look at your internal engineering, there's no way of knowing _how_ strong you are exactly," said Alphys. "But I'd wager you could easily kill most of us with little effort."

Curly's lips slowly curved downward. "I don't remember much about my past," she stated glumly, "but I do remember Quote and I fighting against an entire army of robots singlehandedly. We fought our way through them like they were nothing. I never really thought of myself as a weapon, but when you put it like that…"

"Hey, t-there's no need to be so hard on yourself," Alphys hastily reassured. "…I would know," she added under her breath.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Curly replied. The anxiety that was apparent on her had already seemed to melt away. "It's been tough, but I'm glad I finally have the chance to settle down."

Alphys laughed weakly. "Yeah… me too."

* * *

As Alphys exited the laboratory's main room, she was surprised to see Mettaton standing just outside the door. Curly, who was following her closely behind, greeted him with enthusiasm.

"Oh, hey Mettaton! How have you been?"

"A better question would be how you have been," he snapped back. "Or rather, _what_ you were doing."

"Wha–? Mettaton, I just wanted to take a look at her engineering!" said Alphys. "A-are you suggestion I was doing something I shouldn't?"

"Alphys darling, you _know_ I have a keen eye for detail," Mettaton said. "And I can't help but notice that your dear Curly's shirt _wasn't_ on backwards before you went in there."

"Huh?" said Curly. She looked down, and saw the collar of her shirt was too high. "Ah, right! Thanks for catching that! I guess I put it back on the wrong–"

"Eep!" Alphys let out a tiny squeal. "Curly, no! I mean, um… Mettaton, I swear it isn't what it looks like!"

"Of _course_ that's what you would say," Mettaton replied. "Listen Alphys, I consider you a friend, so I'll keep this a secret. However, if Undyne finds out that I've been in on this, it's not going to be good for me. You already know that we never really got along. I can only hope for _both_ of our sakes you'll come clean with her."

Alphys couldn't exactly tell what happened next. Her hands trembled, her head swam, her breathing intensified, and her entire body was coated in a cold sweat. In the haze of panic, she could briefly hear Curly angrily confronting Mettaton.

It wasn't until Undyne's voice announced itself that she finally came to her senses.

"Hey, what's going on here!?" The water nymph had loudly barged her way into the conversation with her usual brand of subtlety, flashing a toothy grimace.

"Oh dear... this didn't last long," said Mettaton. "Alphys, why don't you tell your beloved what you and Curly were doing in the laboratory, hmm?"

Alphys buried her hands in her face. _Oh God, please let this be a bad dream!_

"Oh, that?" said Undyne. "I already knew about that."

Mettaton froze, his jaw suddenly hanging open. "I… I… _what?_ "

"Yeah, she told me about it all just before lunch," said Undyne. "Why wouldn't I know?"

"And, you… you're _okay_ with this?" Mettaton added.

"Of course I am!" Undyne declared. "Why the hell _wouldn't_ I be?"

"…Well then. I applaud you for being so open-minded. If you need anything, Alphys, I'll be in the cafeteria." With a pout, Mettaton walked briskly towards the double-doors at the hallway's end.

"You okay there? You look a bit sweaty," said Undyne.

Alphys breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, I… I'm fine. Curly, you can go on ahead."

"Your friend's a jerk," Curly huffed, before heading down the corridor.

Undyne looked down at Alphys, a glimmer of deep concern showing in her remaining eye. It was a rare moment where Alphys couldn't see any of her teeth. "Mettaton wasn't giving you a hard time, was he? He's been acting strange today. More than usual, I mean."

"Um… no, not really," said Alphys.

"If he's ever being too much of a pain in the ass, just tell me, okay?" Undyne assured. "I'll set him straight before you know it!"

"That won't be necessary, but… thanks," said Alphys.

"No problem," Undyne replied with a grin. "By the way, there's one thing I wanted to ask you."

"Yeah?" said Alphys. "What is it?"

"Was she _hot?_ "

Alphys jumped back in surprise. "Wha–? No, that's not! I didn't! I… I… I…" Alphys suddenly began to feel terribly light-headed. Her vision began to fade, the image of the hallway becoming blurry and indistinct. Just before she blacked out, she heard Undyne frantically calling out to her.

"Wait, no! Alphys, I was _joking_ _!_ "

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter was a bit of a pain to write since I initially planned for it to have more scenes. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and overall length I had to axe a few of them to get the plot moving at a more reasonable pace.**

 **And yes, I'm aware Mettaton is acting like a bit more of an asshole in this chapter than in canon. There's a reason for that. Also, it maaaaaay help to understand how to pronounce Greek letters phonetically when reading. ;)**

 **The name of Alphys's species, "viashino", is the same as Magic: the Gathering's viashino, a race of lizardfolk descended from dragons.**


	28. Chapter 27

"Oh, goodness! Is she all right?"

To an extent, Frisk already knew the answer to Toriel's question. Though she didn't remember it, Alphys had survived a great deal worse.

"Yeah, just a bit overwhelmed," Undyne replied. The water nymph carried her unconscious girlfriend beneath one of her arms into the laboratory, where the others remained waiting in front of the teleporter. Moving delicately, Undyne slowly positioned Alphys upright, before setting her on the ground on her feet, careful not to let go of her.

"Hey Paps, hold her still for me, will ya?"

"Can do!" Papyrus eagerly replied. As Alphys was released from Undyne's grasp, Papyrus sauntered over and grabbed Alphys by the waist, careful to prevent her limp body from collapsing.

"Thanks, Papyrus," Undyne replied. "I hope this works…" Slowly and deliberately, she leaned into Alphys's ear, cupping her hands over her mouth, and whispered something inaudible. As she did, Frisk couldn't help but notice Sue giving a curious look.

" _EXCUSE ME!?_ "

Alphys's reaction was immediate, snapping awake in the span of an instant. Her outburst caused Papyrus to release his grasp, jumping backwards out of shock.

" _How_ could you possibly say such a thing!? The sequel was _terrible_ and you... know… huh?" The anger that had been apparent in her eyes vanished, and she gave a bewildered glance around the room. "Undyne? What happened?"

Undyne grinned. "Glad to have you back! You almost had me worried for a moment there."

"Um… right," said Alphys. "What were we doing again?"

"You were _going_ to head back to the Surface," Jack interjected. "You've got plenty of work to do there, I would imagine."

"Oh…" said Alphys. "I was hoping I we could stay a little bit longer… There were a couple things I wanted to speak with Professor Booster about before we went back."

The Professor smiled, his glasses gleaming beneath the fluorescent lamps. "You're interested in my research, I take it? I'd love to collaborate with a fellow scientist, especially one from a culture we've had no prior contact with."

"O-oh! That's great!" Alphys exclaimed. "For starters, I, uh…"

"Now hold on just a moment," Booster interrupted. "Unfortunately, much as I'd love to hear your knowledge, that's not exactly something we're authorized for at the moment. We've already broken protocol enough as it is."

"Authorized?" said Undyne. "Did we need someone's permission to be here?"

"Well, of course," Itoh chimed in. "We're working on the behalf of the Supernatural Affairs Agency. Strictly speaking, anything we do here requires their authorization, as well as the permission of the Mimiga Village's leader."

Jack crossed his arms and glared. "Which would be me."

"Right," Itoh added. "We had to bend quite a few regulations just to arrange this meeting to begin with. And technically speaking, Asgore is the leader of a sovereign nation, which complicates things. Even disregarding the red tape, you'd still need the permission of Doctor Gatsuro for any further exchange of information."

"Great, so where do we find him?" said Undyne.

"Even if we knew where he was, we couldn't tell you," Booster replied. "But we have notified him of our meeting through our secure communication channels. We'll let Momorin know if he's interested in a more formal collaboration."

"R-right, of course…" said Alphys.

Curly turned gave a reassuring smile. "Hey, don't feel bad! I'm sure we'll see each other again sometime. If it makes you feel better, I'll talk to the Professor later."

"Oh, um… thanks," said Alphys. "I _would_ like to come back to the Island later. There's so much here that I could learn…"

"You can count me in!" Undyne cheered. "I'd love to explore the rest of the Island with you when we get a chance. Just think, it'd be like our very own romantic adventure!"

Alphys blushed deeply. "Oh gosh…"

"Oooh, can I come too?" said Papyrus. "I can be your wingman!"

"A wingman?" said Undyne. "Papyrus, we're _already_ dating!"

"How about Sans, then?" Papyrus suggested. "He's always winging it, so he'd be even better!"

Alphys let out a loud snort, covering her mouth as she erupted into a fit of giggling. "That's… that's okay, Papyrus. You can both come with us. As friends, I mean. I was thinking Undyne and I could save the more, um... personal outing for somewhere else."

Undyne shrugged. "Hey, if that's what you want. What do you say about it, Asgore? Do you think we could come back here sometime?"

"Hm?" Asgore's attention suddenly turned to Undyne, though the lines beneath his eyes showed a deep weariness that was not there when they had arrived on the Island. "Well…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Jack suddenly cut him off. "You're not coming back."

Asgore's eyes widened, and he stared at Jack in bewilderment. "I… I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me!" Jack retorted. "I don't want you or your stupid dustlings coming back to _my_ village!"

"I see." Asgore's face hardened instantaneously. He stepped forward without hesitation, towering over the smaller mimiga. "And what did I tell you about invoking prejudice against my subjects?"

"I don't give a damn what you have to say!" Jack shouted back, pointing angrily. "You weren't even supposed to have _existed_ until today! You were never anything more than a myth! And you _still_ have no idea what your so-called 'subjects' did to us!"

Undyne's body suddenly stiffened. "Wha… Asgore, what is this guy going on about!?"

Jacks hands tightened into fists. Arms shaking, he spoke through gritted teeth. "Oh, I'll tell you what. You think the Doctor was the biggest threat we've faced? Hah! He didn't do anything to us that _your_ kind didn't do first! We just wanted to live a peaceful life, but _you_ tried to drag us into a war with humanity none of us were ready for! You nearly destroyed our entire civilization over a stupid grudge!"

"What!? That's ridiculous!" said Undyne, "I don't even _know_ you!"

"And yet that doesn't stop all the _other_ dustlings from attacking us!" Jack spat. "To this day we still can't safely travel the Island without being assaulted by monsters like you, and it's all because _you_ declared war on us! Do you have any idea what the gaudi _do_ to us now?"

"Jack, stop it!" Sue pleaded. "Why are you acting like this? This isn't like you!"

"And you know what the _worst_ part of it is?" Jack continued, ignoring Sue's desperate cry, "I _let_ you into the village because I'd thought you were slaves! I didn't think our so-called king would be foolish enough to _trust_ you! But I'll be damned if I'm going to let you waltz in here whenever you want as if you own the place! I don't want to see any of your faces here again!"

As his rant finally quieted down, the entire room was left silent in its wake, save for the pained, heavy wheezes as Jack fought to regain his breath. Slowly, he turned towards Balrog, and jabbed a single index finger at him.

"And you," Jack said, "the _only_ reason I'm letting you stay here is because you're a friend of the Professor. You'd better remember your place if you know what's good for you."

Without another word, Jack turned around and headed towards the exit door, furiously stomping his way out of the laboratory.

Before he could begin to process the events that had just occurred before him, Frisk felt himself being forcefully grabbed by the arm.

"Come, my child. We are _leaving_."

* * *

"You have my deepest apologies, Toriel," Momorin spoke. "I... I had no idea any of this would happen."

Toriel averted her gaze, standing firmly on top of the teleport pad. All the others who had joined her on the journey to the Island stood with her, a wide range of emotions displayed on each of their faces, ranging from confusion, to anger, to fear.

"I don't want to hear it," said Toriel. "Professor Booster, is the teleporter ready?"

"Still calibrating, I'm afraid," Booster replied. "Now listen, I know tensions have been rather high lately..."

"Do I need to repeat myself? I don't want to hear it."

Frisk looked up at his adoptive mother, glimpsing the anger in her eyes. It was a familiar anger, one that he had only ever seen in her when speaking of Asgore. But where that anger had been an old grudge, one that had gradually been worn down after many years of healing wounds, this anger was new. It was a fury that was quiet and restrained, yet it burned more intensely than any fire magic in the universe. Frisk wasn't sure he'd ever seen Toriel this angry before.

There had to be a way to fix this. If he could go and find Jack and talk to him, he could be convinced to see he error of his ways. He'd managed to gently nudge Undyne out of her prejudice against humans, he could do the same with a monster's prejudice against other monsters.

But this circumstance was different. By the time he'd found a way to avoid killing Undyne, he'd already been through the whole of the Underground at least a dozen times. A nonviolent solution took trial and error, and that was a privilege he could no longer afford. If he failed, there was no more turning back the clock. His actions could well end up cementing Jack's hostility further. What could he do?

"Alright, the teleporter is online," said Itoh. "Anyone want say your last goodbye?"

"I'm going to miss you guys…" said Curly.

"Hey, just because they can't come back doesn't mean they won't see them," Balrog suggested. "Maybe we could go down to the surface one day and visit!"

"Oh! I didn't think of that!" said Curly. "That's a great idea!"

Frisk ignored the chattering of the others as they said their farewells. There had to be a way to fix this. Toriel… as much as he loved his new parent, he couldn't shake the feeling that Toriel was too quick to remove herself from a potential conflict. Jack's prejudice against other monsters was trouble waiting to happen, and something had to be done. But there were far too many unknowns, far too many risks he didn't know if he could afford to take.

He wracked his mind searching for any sign of an answer, but found none. And yet despite that, there was one thought that loomed above all others, as if begging to be remembered.

The hooded figure in the cemetery. The Riverperson, as they had been called in the Underground. There seemed to be no way they could have gotten here on their own. The way they spoke was cryptic, even more so than they spoke while ferrying, but there was something else about their mannerisms…

It suddenly dawned on Frisk what it was. Answers to questions not yet asked, responses that presumed they knew what would be said beforehand.

The cryptic letter that the Riverperson had given him was not merely a poem. It was a _prophecy._

Frisk reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter, intent on reminding himself of its contents. But before he could get the chance to look at it more closely, there was a terrible noise and a blinding explosion of light.

"What's going on!?"

"I… I don't know! The failsafes should have prevented this from happening!"

Frisk couldn't discern who was speaking. Every single one of his senses felt like it was being torn apart. His body was being pulled in all directions, his mind and soul being stretched and twisted like taffy.

Then, all at once, the entire world went dark.

* * *

 _Did you know that Prince Asriel used to have a brother? His name was Chara. Like his brother, he brought hope to all the monsters of the Underground..._


	29. Chapter 28

It took a long time before Frisk regained the feeling in his body. Or maybe not, it was impossible to tell how long he had remained unconscious. Regardless, his senses eventually did return. It was slow at first — just a faint sound at the edge of his hearing, or an indistinct tingle of eyesight — but they soon came back in a cascade of perceptions that threatened to overwhelm him entirely.

Somehow, he'd managed to discover something even more disorienting than death was.

As he gradually forced his eyes open, a dull ache throbbed across Frisk's entire body. His vision at first was indistinct and blurry, but it soon became clear enough to discern his surroundings. He stood in the middle of a dark, stony cave, just barely bright enough to see in front of him. Water dripped from stalactites that hung from the ceiling, the air was musty and thick, and what little he could see was only made possible from the bioluminescent mushrooms that dotted the walls, glowing with a ghostly blue light. But more important was what Frisk _didn't_ see: none of his friends were anywhere to be found.

Frisk's pulse quickened, the stale air of the cave nearly choking his lungs through his rapid, panicked breaths.

"Mom!" he called. "Are you alright!?"

His words were met with nothing but an echo, reverberating through the bowels of the cavern.

"Mom? Asgore?" he called, taking a tentative step with his right foot. "Papryus? Undyne?"

No response. Frisk began to walk forwards, navigating slowly through the twisty passages.

"Sans? Alphys?" His breathing quickened further, corresponding with his pace. It wasn't long before he found himself running at a full spring.

"Mettaton!" he desperately shouted, barely able to find enough breath between it and his increasingly shallow respiration. "Sue! Kazuma! Ms. Sakamoto! _Anyone!_ "

Frisk had soon begun to feel extremely light headed. His body straining under the effort, he slowed his pace to a jog, then to a stumbling walk, and then finally to barely a limp. His lungs, still weak from the teleporter malfunction, felt like they were on fire. Wheezing heavily, he took one last step forward, and promptly fell flat on his face.

 ** _whump_**

As he toppled face first onto the hard stone floor, he closed his eyes and braced for the inevitable impact. Yet when the impact came, he'd noticed the pain he'd felt was slightly duller — and only _very_ slightly — from what he'd expected. He'd felt the pain of hitting a stone surface head-first more than once, sometimes even lethally. Yet this was not merely a stone surface. There was something else between his head and the unforgiving bedrock.

His temples still throbbing in pain, Frisk picked himself up off the floor, holding a hand to the spot on his forehead where the impact was most prominent. To his surprise, there was no sign of bleeding... but he could only hope that he hadn't developed a concussion. Trying his best to distract himself from the injury, he looked down at the object he had landed on. What he saw immediately grabbed his attention.

It was a small, leather-bound book, damp and covered in mold, yet still left entirely intact. His curiosity getting the better of any lingering desire to treat his injury, Frisk carefully picked the book off of the floor. Examining it from multiple angles, he found it to contain no visible labels of any sort.

 _Guess there's only one way to find out what this is about._

Carefully, he pulled the old tome open. The pages were old and decayed, and several of them stuck together as he attempted to thumb through the pages. The writing was only partially decipherable, with only around half of the words visible on any given page. A frown crossed Frisk's face as he continued to flip through the book, having great care to avoid damaging it further.

 _Is there anything here that's actually legible?_

As though to answer his question, Frisk suddenly found that the last several pages in the book had been miraculously preserved. Though the paper was still yellowed and brittle, the words written were clear enough that he could easily make them out. He pulled the book more closely to his face, and began to flip through the remaining passages.

* * *

 **July 18th, 186X**

 _An island in the sky... it's hard to imagine such a thing existing, and yet here we are. Several weeks ago, my company was to deliver a shipment of weapons to the nation of Forestland. Having recently invested in the latest in airship technology, I decided this would be the perfect opportunity for our vessel's maiden voyage. Naturally, as the founder of this proud enterprise, I took it upon myself to travel alongside the shipment, so that I may see the fruits of my ambition firsthand._

 _We were astonished to find, completely by coincidence, an entire landmass floating in the air far above the large swaths of uninhabited woods that cover the Forestland countryside. We are fortunate to have chosen to fly while the skies are clear, for its altitude is high enough that it would surely have been hidden by the clouds._

 _Naturally, I decided that we should take the time to briefly visit the island. The ship's captain, a man by the name of Toshio Date, objected to this, claiming that delivering the shipment was more important. I reassured him that the shipment was not expected to arrive for another week, which would give us plenty of time. Besides, the existence of such an island is surely the discovery of the century, perhaps even the millenium! No doubt the fame and publicity we would claim for such a momentous discovery is far greater than any single shipment._

 _As I write, the airship is currently making its landing. What we will find on this island, I can only imagine._

 **July 19th, 186X**

 _Monsters! The island is populated by monsters! I didn't think that this discovery could be any more extraordinary, and yet here we are! The crew were at first frightened by these strange creatures, but it soon became apparent that they were no threat to us, with our vastly superior technology. As I have made clear to the others, we are not to show any display of force except in self-defense. We are here to observe, not to occupy._

 _Understandably, the locals are suspicious of us. Few have cooperated with our desire to understand more about this place, and those that do are either unable or unwilling to tell us more than scant details. Nevertheless there has been some information about this place we were able to acquire._

 _The island is known to the natives solely as the Island in the Sky. If what we've heard is to be believed, the moniker was granted by a legendary king who united the Island's inhabitants under a single banner. Apparently, he was also terrible at names._

 _Monsters on the Island come in all manner of shapes and sizes, but there are three races that are particularly noteworthy: the mimiga, the gaudi, and the drolls. The mimiga are a species of beastmen who on first glance resemble rabbits, though many could also be said to resemble hornless goats. They appear to make up the bulk of settlements, and command great respect from the other monsters._

 _The second race, the gaudi, can only be described as massive cockroaches. As repulsive as they may appear to human sensibilities, the gaudi are perhaps the friendliest of the monster species we've encountered, being considerably more cooperative than any other kind we've seen thus far. Most of the information we've learned about the Island has come from them._

 _Finally, we have the drolls. While drolls are somewhat numerous on the Island, they rarely interact with the other races, and most of the droll settlements we've visited have been extremely reluctant to even acknowledge our presence at all._

 _There is also another notable race on the Island, the cthulu, though I am unsure of whether to count them because it is not obvious whether they are monsters or humans. They are even more enigmatic than the drolls, and there is something about them that everyone on the crew finds deeply unsettling._

 **July 20th, 186X**

 _The locals have begun to grow increasingly hostile to our presence. While not resorting to outright violence, they have made it abundantly clear that we are not welcome here. The mimiga now refuse to speak with us altogether, and even the gaudi have become far more reluctant to share information with us. The crew are becoming restless, and many of them seem altogether too eager for the chance to defend themselves should the monsters attack._

 _Fortunately, while most monsters have been unhelpful, there have been some exceptions. In particular, a young priest by the name of Halder has been helpful to us, more than willing to explain the culture and customs of the Island's populace. Though we have not known each other for long, Halder and I have gotten along well, and I can see in us the beginnings of a strong friendship._

 _According to Halder, the Island's monsters migrated from the surface some seven hundred and fifty years ago, in order to flee a devastating war waged upon them by humans. Judging from the lack of monsters on the surface, it would seem they are the only ones who survived. It's no wonder the monsters on the island are so afraid of us: our kind brought them to the edge of extinction! Indeed, humans can be such terrible creatures..._

 _And yet, Halder has been more than willing to put the past behind us. Despite the danger we pose to him, he has chosen to offer us forgiveness. For that, I am grateful. Perhaps it is because of the religion that he serves: from what I've been able to gather, it places a strong emphasis on mercy and pacifism. Shame the other monsters don't seem to follow it as closely, but given the circumstances, it is perfectly understandable._

 _The faith that Halder serves worships a deity known as Sisu. The Island is said to be his domain, and supposedly Sisu lends his hardiness and determination to anyone who lives on it. While priests of Sisu command considerable respect on the Island, monster settlements consider religion in general to be largely an afterthought. Apparently, the religion was not originally the monsters' to begin with: it was introduced to the populace by an immortal sorceress named Letka. Despite being human, Letka was widely revered by the monster settlements, and in return she had tirelessly served as their guardian, keeping a watchful eye on the Island to ensure the monsters' prosperity._

 _Unfortunately, around two hundred and fifty years ago, Letka mysteriously vanished. Without her guidance, the monsters of the Island quickly lost hope, and their population began to dwindle rapidly. What remains of the old ways exists in an area of the Island known as the Sand Zone, having now been abandoned for more than two centuries. I had hoped that we may get the opportunity to see this Sand Zone for ourselves, but Halder has made it clear that any travel to the region is strictly forbidden. I suppose it's not too much of a loss: we must leave tomorrow if the shipment is expected to arrive on time, so we would not have been able to explore much further regardless._

 **July 21st, 186X**

 _Today is the day that we leave the Island. It's a shame, there's so much more about this place's history I feel that I could have learned, and so much more about monsterkind I could have discovered. Regardless, I'm glad that I was able to have found this place, and even though I've known him for barely more than a day, I am grateful for Halder's kindness. Perhaps someday I will come back to visit him._

 _While preparing to make our departure, Toshio showed to me a strange artifact that his men had found. It appears to be some form of ceremonial headdress, a large mitre adorned with a singular red eye. Its appearance is certainly rather frightening, and I can't help but wonder what its significance is. I expressed concern that taking it from the Island might not be a good idea, but Toshio persuaded me that taking it to the surface would be invaluable in proving our discovery to the world._

 _With that said, it is time that we made our departure. More than ever before, the future of the Kamadani Smithing Company is looking bright._

 **?**

 _I'm alive, somehow. To say that our departure did not go as planned would be a vast understatement. What happened was nothing short of utterly disastrous._

 _The headdress that Toshio's men found was, in actuality, an artifact known as the Demon Crown. From what I have been able to gather, it appeared on the Island shortly after Letka's disappearance, and holds within it immense magical power. Fearing it would be used for evil, Halder placed the crown under his protection, forbidding any from laying their hands on it._

 _Upon learning that it was stolen, Halder boarded on our ship, appearing before us out of thin air. In a fit of rage, he took the Demon Crown and placed upon his head, harnessing its unfathomable might. The ease with which Halder slaughtered the crew was nothing short of terrifying... As their lives were lost, I watched in horror as Halder cast a spell, causing orbs of radiant light to emerge from their lifeless bodies. Though I did not understand what was happening at the time, it is clear to me now: he was attempting to steal the souls of my fallen comrades._

 _Fortunately, before he could complete his incantation, Toshio landed a decisive blow against Halder using one of the many firearms kept aboard the ship. With Halder's concentration broken, the souls of the crew flew away, never to be seen again, and Halder was forced to retreat. Without our men, it was difficult to get the airship running, but soon we were able to make an expeditious retreat._

 _...Or so we thought. As the airship lifted off, a massive ball of flame appeared from the sky, no doubt conjured by Halder. Before we could even flinch, the flame impacted the airship, causing it to explode in an immense conflagration. When I awoke, I found myself bloodied and broken, barely clinging to life. What was left of the airship was completely unrecognizable, its debris having been scattered across the top of the Island by the force of the explosion. I do not know whether Toshio survived, as his body was nowhere to be found, but given the circumstances it is unlikely that he still lives._

 _I do not know how many days it has been since the attack, as I have neglected to write in this diary until now. In the time since, civil war has broken out between the monsters of the Island. Some have even taken to using my own weapons in the conflict, having salvaged them from the wreckage of my airship. Seeing the horrors of warfare first hand... I cannot help but wonder if I am being punished by fate for my crimes._

 _When I had first started my enterprise, I had believed that every weapon I crafted was a deeply personal item. Every gun was unique, custom-tailored to the needs of the client. They were not merely things, but the truest expression of the wielder's identity. However, as the Sunrise Islands industrialized, I was forced to adapt my business and venture into the realm of mass-production._

 _Seeing the war on the Island, I now realize how wrong I was. People, humans and monsters alike, do not treat their weapons with such care. They treat them as mere tools, to be used and then discarded later. And yet they still possess the arrogance to believe that such weapons are their own power. How can anyone truly appreciate my craftsmanship in such a manner?_

 _I was foolish to think that my business would have resulted in anything else. In pursuit of my ambitions, I have abandoned the principles that I once held dear. I should have never even sold my weapons to begin with. To rely on another's arms is to spit on the work of the man who forged them._

 _If I wish to stay true to my beliefs, I know what I must do. Should I survive this long and bloody conflict, I will dedicate my life to creating the finest weapons in all the world, untainted by the hands of those who would make such a mockery of their craft. Forging weapons is my purpose, and I refuse to die as long as I still hold onto it._

* * *

Frisk's eyes remained laser-fixed at the final entry in the journal. It had taken a moment for the implications of what he'd just read to set in, but when they did, they left a permanent impression in his mind. In just a few minutes he had learned more about the Island than he'd ever learned from the ones who dedicated their lives to studying it. What the implications of this information were he did not know; he was still struggling to process all of the things that had happened in the short time since he'd arrived on the Island. Yet slowly, he was certain, the pieces would come together.

He did not have long to puzzle before the sound of footsteps approached, mixed with a subtle yet distinctive clanking of metal against stone. In his peripheral vision, Frisk caught a glimpse of bleached-white skin and a head of black hair.

"Mettaton!" he said, turning around almost reflexively. "Oh, thank God, I-"

Frisk sentence immediately halted in its tracks. Standing just before him was not Mettaton, but an entirely different robot. Though he bore similar humanoid appearance, his figure was less curved and more barrel-shaped. He wore sneakers, a pair of red trousers, an a black sleeveless shirt that gave a full view of his arms: slim mechanical limbs the same pale color as his face, molded in a way to appear muscular and organic. Atop his black hair and antenna-like ears was a baseball cap, with a word in an unfamiliar language prominently displayed on the front:

 ** _ΩΜ_** **_ΊΓΑ_**

Most alarmingly of all, however, was the weapon that the robot carried in his right hand. By all appearances it was nothing more than a simple revolver... yet just looking at it made him shudder internally, even more so than the thought of losing his friends to a freak teleporter accident. That was no ordinary handgun.

"You... you're not Mettaton," Frisk said. "Who _are_ you?"

"The name's Quote," the robot replied. "What's a kid like you doing here?"

* * *

 **A/N:** **And another chapter is completed! Having recently graduated college, I've had more time to work on this, though that may change once I find steady employment.**

 **From here the story will likely split into multiple different POVs as we track the different characters who've been split up.**


	30. Chapter 29

Staring directly into the face of the "savior" that Sue had described was a surreal experience. Frisk had imagined that he would be taller, for one. Quote was barely over five feet tall, only slightly any larger than Curly.

But what struck Frisk especially was just how _unsettling_ Quote was to look at. His eyes stared forward without blinking, his face carrying no sign of any human expression. While Curly had always managed to maintain a cheerful demeanor, Frisk found it entirely impossible to read her counterpart at all.

"I asked you a question," said Quote. "What are you doing here?"

"Huh? Oh, um… right, sorry," said Frisk. "I got distracted for a bit. You know Sue Sakamoto, right?"

Quote's eyes widened, if only slightly. It was the first time he'd shown any sign of emotion. "Sue? What about her? Is she okay?"

Frisk felt a lump forming in his throat. "I… don't know. She was in the Mimiga Village with me not to long ago. There was an accident, and we were separated…"

"Do you know where she is now?" said Quote.

Frisk took in a deep breath. The reality was still hard to accept, even after getting the chance to clear his head. Yet there was no denying it now.

"I don't know where she is," Frisk admitted, his voice a strained whisper.

Quote showed no sign of response, gazing back in unflinching silence.

"I don't know where _anyone_ is!" Frisk blurted out. He could no longer hide the desperation in his voice as tears began to flow freely down his face. "My mom, my friends… they're all gone! I… I don't know what to do! Please, you have to help me!"

"Hey, calm down," Quote said. The response was monotone, almost like he was reading a line off of a script. "Tell me what happened."

Nevertheless, Frisk knew it was best to contain the sudden outburst of emotion. Powerlessness was the worst feeling in the world, but it wouldn't do any good to act on emotion. He sniffed loudly, and wiped off his face with a sleeve.

"There was a teleporter," said Frisk. "My friends and I were going to use it to go back to the surface, but then something went wrong. I ended up here instead, separated from everyone else. They could be anywhere for all I know. What am I supposed to do?"

Quote looked down at Frisk, his face still unmoving. Silence hung in the air as the two exchanged looks.

"Well," Quote finally spoke up, "the first thing I'd need to know is where Professor Booster is. Was he with you in the teleporter?"

"Um… no," said Frisk. "I think he was back at the laboratory. I don't know what happened to him, though."

"Well then," Quote replied, "our first order of business is getting back up to the top of the Island and finding him."

"Wait, what?" said Frisk. "What about all of my friends? What about my mom? We can't just abandon them! They could be anywhere!"

"Exactly," said Quote. "Which means we have no idea where we'd find them. Searching the entire Island could take days, and there's no guarantee they're still on the Island to begin with. Our only chance is to find Booster and hope he can track where the teleporter sent everyone."

"Oh," said Frisk. "Well, I guess that makes sense. You promise it'll work though, right?"

"We'll see," said Quote. "Now follow me. I know a passage that'll lead us to Grasstown. We can use the teleporter there to head to the village."

Quote turned around and headed down the way that he came. Frisk, with nothing else to do, followed suit.

The journey through the caves led the two travelers through a maze of twisty little passages, all alike. It was impossible to tell at any given moment which direction that they were headed, and yet Quote led the way through them with unyielding confidence, as though he had been through them many times before.

As they continued to walk, Frisk eyed the weapon carried in Quote's right hand. From everything he'd heard about the robot, it only made sense that he would carry one. Yet Frisk could not shake the feeling of creeping unease seeing the gun displayed so proudly.

With his attention fixed on the weapon, it was hard to notice how thick the air had become as they had walked. Frisk's nose began to itch, and his lungs were weighed down by the presence of something hanging in the cavern's atmosphere.

"Ah… ah…" Frisk inhaled sharply, immediately recognizing the sign of an oncoming sneeze. Reacting quickly, he placed his finger below his nose, momentary stifling his body's reaction. He wiped his nose on his shirt, breathing outwardly in relief.

The feeling did not last long. It took mere moments for him to recognize what had triggered his sneeze. It was a sensation that had become all too familiar to him.

Dust. _Monster_ dust.

As terror encroached upon him, Frisk stopped dead in his tracks, and looked up to see that Quote had done the same. Without looking back, the robot held an arm to the side his palm flat and facing backwards.

"Stay back," Quote growled, an urgency in his voice suddenly becoming apparent.

It didn't take long for Frisk to find out why. Further down the cavern was a group of monsters. Their bodies were gelatinous, in a round and uneven shape, with miniature eyes, slender mouths, and ears ending in white pom-poms.

"Wait, don't!" Frisk cried out.

His plea, he found, was quickly ignored. The monsters made the first strike, one of them leaping into the air, its ears spinning like a helicopter. The others followed suit, and together they launched hail of bullets in Quote's general direction.

Frisk dived to the side to avoid the attack. Seeing a nearby boulder, he quickly ducked behind it, dodging the initial attack.

What happened next seemed to occur so quickly that he could barely process it, yet when it was over, it remained burned into Frisk's memory forever.

The antennae on the sides of Quote's head glowed, and a large jetpack materialized strapped to his shoulders. Its rocket thrusters fired, and Quote launched towards the ceiling, moving above the bullets' trajectory.

Retaliation came swiftly. Aiming his gun outward, Quote held down the trigger finger momentarily. When he released it, a pair of white beams erupted from the barrel, striking one of the monsters dead-center. As it exploded in a cloud of dust, the beams continued unimpeded, killing two more monsters that were in its path.

As the steady stream of thrust from Quote's jetpack petered out, he deftly maneuvered backwards in the air, landing several feet away from his initial position. The few monsters that were airborne landed back on the ground, malice apparent in their beady eyes.

Both Quote and the remaining monsters ascended into the air a second time. This time, however, the monsters acted with more success. They again fired their bullets first, but this time they aimed their shots just above where Quote was standing. As the soldier's jetpack lifted him into the air, he immediately collided with the bullet's trajectory.

The impact send him flying backwards, a flurry of sparks discharging from his body. Quote, however, almost immediately regained control of his own flight path. His mouth curling into a grimace, he held down the trigger again. Instead of releasing it, however, he held it down longer, deftly weaving through the air while the monsters tried and failed to hit him with their attacks. Just as his jetpack's thrust died down he released the trigger, and a _massive_ beam poured forth, large enough to dwarf the gun's previous fire.

Frisk shielded his eyes from the attack's light. When he opened them, all the remaining monsters were gone. What he saw before him was equal parts horrifying and baffling.

Standing on a patch of dusty remains was Quote. Still grasping his gun in his right hand, he clutched his left shoulder in pain: the joint's white exterior had been blasted off, revealing a mass of frayed wiring and lightweight metal that sparked erratically. As he made an effort to hide the pain out at the space where the last monster had hovered in the air just before its death. In that space was a small white orb, the very same kind that Frisk vividly remembered in his nightmare just one day previously.

Without a word, Quote jumped upwards and grabbed the orb in his hands. When he landed, he held it tightly in his hands, and thrust it forcefully into his chest, the monster soul passed into his body effortlessly. Suddenly, the sparks coming from Quote's shoulder ceased, and the frayed wiring began to connect itself back together. The robot's arm glowed, and within seconds the white plating had returned, the limb being fully repaired. Quote held his arm out to the side, tentatively rotating his shoulder, before lowering it back to resting position.

"So they've learned how to lead their shots… looks like they're getting smarter." He looked back at Frisk and frowned. "Be on your guard."

"Wha… wha…" Frisk struggled to speak through the sudden ache in his throat. "B-but… no… no! _You can't do that!_ "

"Pay attention, kid," Quote replied. "That many critters means there's a nest somewhere around here."

" _So what!?"_ Frisk screamed.

"Simple," Quote gave a deadpan reply. "We find it. Then we take them out."


	31. Chapter 30

It was difficult for Frisk to process what, exactly, he had heard. He had to have misheard it, somehow. There was no way… was there?

"I… I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" he croaked.

"We need to find the nest and clear out all of the critters hiding there," Quote replied. "Stay close to me, it's dangerous to go alone."

Quote didn't even wait for an acknowledgement before he turned around, walking forward at a hurried pace.

"I… Buh… Wha… _Wait a minute!_ "

Frisk sprinted forward as fast as his legs could carry him, past the startled android. He cut Quote off directly in front of him, standing in his path with arms and legs spread wide, as though it would block his advance.

" _Stop!_ "

Quote's legs came to an abrupt halt. He stared down at Frisk, his rubbery plastic lips curving downward ever-so-slightly. Frisk glared back, breath ragged and arms trembling, and noticed a subtle red glimmer in the robot's eye.

A sudden chill ran down Frisk's spine. He had seen that glimmer before.

"Kid," said Quote, "I'm going to need you to move out of the way."

Frisk took a deep breath, and his expression hardened. He felt familiar swelling within his chest, and the sudden rush of willpower filled every crevasse of his body.

"Why did you kill those monsters?"

Quote blinked. His expression, though nearly unreadable, shifted slightly. The red glint in his eye seemed to waver, if only for a moment.

"I… I'm not sure I understand," he said.

Frisk crossed his arms. "Oh, come on. It's not a hard question. I'll repeat: _why did you kill those monsters?_ "

"Because…" He spoke hesitantly, struggling to complete a sentence. "…because they're enemies, that's why."

"And they're enemies because they attacked you first, right?" said Frisk.

"Yes, obviously," Quote replied, with just a hint of irritation to his voice.

"And what about this nest that you're set on wiping out?" Frisk jabbed a forefinger at the robot. "What did _they_ do to you, huh?"

"I already told you, they're enemies!" Quote replied.

" _Why!?_ " Frisk shouted. "They haven't hurt anyone! They've done _nothing_ to you!"

The sound of the outburst echoed across the interior of the cavern. Frisk's entire body shook with a rage that he had only barely managed to suppress before.

To his surprise, Frisk found that Quote had reacted similarly. His aloofness had melted away, and he looked down with a scowl that could only be described as outright contemptuous.

"Listen kid, I don't have patience for this kind of argument…"

"And next you're going to say 'I did what I had to do, and that's that,'" Frisk muttered.

"…I did what I had to do, and that's that," Quote finished. "Wait, _what?_ "

"I knew it!" Frisk interjected. "I know _exactly_ how someone like you thinks! You don't even see monsters as _people_ , do you? They're all just _things_ to you!"

" _Shut the hell up, you little brat!_ " Quote shouted back. Frisk jumped back at the sudden noise, nearly falling over from the sudden movement.

Quote moved forward, eyes aflame as he looked at frisk with a horrible grimace. Frisk backed away slowly, until his back was pressed to the cave wall, with Quote's mechanical body towering over him.

"Let me explain something to you, bucko," said Quote, jabbing a finger at Frisk's collar. "You. Know. _Nothing._ Got that? You don't know a goddamned _thing_ about this place, or the hell I've had to go through to endure it."

Frisk tried as hard as he could to suppress a gulp. "L-like what?"

Impossibly, the robot let out a deep sigh. His body relaxed, and the rage in his eyes died down. He backed away from the wall, and turned his back to Frisk, staring fixedly at the other end of the cavern.

By the time he finally spoke, almost thirty seconds had passed in complete silence.

"…I woke up in a place where damn near everything that wasn't a human or a mimiga tried to kill me on sight. I watched helplessly as an innocent little girl was transformed into a mindless killer against her will. I saw her entire village be taken away and forced into slavery, not even knowing they were doomed to end up just like her. I looked on as the one person I'd cared about most lost her entire family, and nearly died in my arms. I've gazed directly into the eyes of madness, into the face of a man so powerful he threatened to tear the entire Island apart just by _existing_. And do you know what that man said to me?"

Quote looked over his shoulder at Frisk, as if awaiting an answer. Despite the anger that he had shown before, Frisk found that he looked almost… tired. Though the robot's artificial skin was eternally youthful, there was now a noticeable heaviness to it, as though weighed down by something the eye couldn't quite see.

"What did he say?" said Frisk.

"…'Kill me, or I will kill you,'" Quote replied. "Those were his last words. He _wanted_ to die, and yet he fought harder than any opponent I've ever faced in my life. And now… now I understand why."

Quote turned around once more to face his human companion. He stood up tall, any fatigue he had shown vanishing in a mere moment.

"In a world like this, refusing to fight will get you nothing and cost you everything. That's why you don't hold yourself back. That's why you don't show your enemies any mercy."

Frisk felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. _Oh no. Oh God, no._

It was then that Frisk had heard it. The one sentence that he had hoped never to hear spoken again in his life.

"In this world," said Quote, "it's _kill or be killed._ "


	32. Chapter 31

_It was a path that he had walked down more times than he could count. The dark, cavernous corridor that lead into the entrance of the Ruins, where each of his myriad journeys through the underground had begun._

 _And now, for the last time, this was where it would end._

 _Frisk walked across the hallway, the Ruins' entrance behind him, towards the clearing where he had first awoken many resets ago. His footsteps were heavy, his body weighed down by his own reluctance, and yet he carried on regardless._

 _It had to be done, he reassured himself. He'd found the best ending to his adventure that he could, and it was wrong to deny it to all of his friends. Yet he still wasn't entirely certain if he could believe it._

 _Frisk turned around the corner, towards the patch of golden flowers that remained constant across all of his journeys. Sure enough, the one he had expected to see was there._

 _"…Asriel?" he called, softly._

 _The young prince abruptly turned his head and glared intensely. Frisk could feel his eyes boring straight into his soul._

 _"What do **you** want?"_

 _"Well, I… I just wanted to say…" Frisk struggled to ignore the knot that had begun to form in his stomach. "…I'm sorry."_

 _For a brief moment, Asriel's mouth opened, his eyebrows curving upwards. Then, just as quickly as it had disappeared, his frown returned._

 _"What, that's all? 'I'm sorry?' That's all you have to say?"_

 _"Well… yeah," said Frisk. "I didn't think how hard it must be for you. I just thought if I kept resetting, I'd…"_

 _Asriel jabbed a finger in Frisk's direction. "What? That'd you get that you'd get to relive your fondest memories for all eternity?"_

 _"W-what!? No, that's not-"_

 _"And all the while I'd be forced to go through the same old song and dance and let go of everything all over again? Come on Frisk, you know how this works!" Asriel continued. "You send us all back to the beginning, everyone goes through the same routine, and I try to absorb everyone's souls all over again because there's nothing left for me to **do** with my miserable life! Then you somehow manage to survive everything I throw at you, and I let everyone go because there's no point in fighting any longer! And then you reset and put us all through the same thing **again**!"_

 _"W-well, yes, but…"_

 _"But **nothing!** " Asriel shouted back. No longer able to hold himself back, the fur on his face had become wet and matted with tears. "The only reason I kept playing along with your dumb game was that I thought you would get bored and give up! I thought that if I kept letting you go through with this, you'd eventually let me and everyone else live what's left of their dumb lives! Why can't you let all your so-called friends be happy, huh!? Why can't you just let me move on!? Is that too much to ask!?"_

 _Frisk flinched as though he had been physically struck. He looked back at Asriel, seeing the distraught little boy staring at him through reddened eyes._

 _Suddenly, his body began to quiver. His forehead throbbed, his fists clenched, and his teeth gritted. How dare he? After all the time spent trying to find a better way?_

 _"You know what? **Fine!** " Frisk shouted. "I wanted to apologize, but if you're not going to listen, you can forget it! I'm going to take all my friends and live happily on the surface, you can just stay here until you **wilt** for all I care!"_

* * *

Frisk rubbed his eyes, and found his mind returning to the present, in the damp and dreary cavern where that he'd been whisked away to after the teleportation-gone-wrong. The android that had confronted him previously had already turned to leave, faint sounds of mechanical movement echoing down the passageway.

"Wait!" Frisk called. "Where are you going?"

Quote turned back and glanced at Frisk. "To finish the job," he said. "You can stay here if you want, but don't blame me if you get hurt."

"W-what?" said Frisk. "Wait! Hold on a minute!"

Quote stopped in his tracks. "What now?"

"Um…" Frisk paused, not sure how to approach the issue. He knew Quote wouldn't be easily deterred from the path he had chosen.

Not _directly,_ at least.

"…don't you think you could wait just a bit before doing that?" Frisk looked up at the android, hoping the smile he'd forced onto his face disguised his true intentions.

Quote stared back down at Frisk, his expression just as unreadable as ever. "…Explain."

"W-well, we have a mission, don't we?" Frisk continued. "We have to get to the top of the Island and find Professor Booster, so he could help find our friends. If we wait longer, won't there be a greater risk of failing?"

Quote stood deathly still, his unblinking eyes staring straight into Frisk's, until the silence was finally broken by his voice.

"You've got a point. I can take care of the critter nest afterward." Quote turned around, and began walking down the corridor. "Come on, the teleporter is this way."

Frisk let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in, and quickly followed after Quote.

* * *

The journey through the rest of the murky caves, thankfully, had been short. Despite the winding passages being nearly identical, Quote weaved through them expertly, navigating through the twisted intersections with unshakable confidence.

It was after God-knows-how-long that they finally came to a door, placed in an opening carved into the rocky wall.

"Here it is," said Quote. Taking the lead, he reached out and firmly grasped the doorknob.

 **ZZZZZZZAAAP!**

Just as he'd closed his fingertips, bright sparks of electricity burst out from the knob, and a powerful current surged through Quote's body. He quickly let go of the handle, tiny wisps of smoke rising from his slightly singed body.

Frisk let out a gasp as suddenly, a giant eyelid opened on the door's exterior, revealing a single eye of equally impressive size.

"Why you…" Quote's body suddenly tensed. His antennae glowed, and his gun materialized in his hand in a flash of light.

" _Wait!_ " Frisk suddenly cried out. Without even thinking, he rushed in front of the door, between the eye and the suddenly murderous robot.

"Kid, what the hell are you doing?" said Quote.

"Just let me handle this!"

Frisk turned to face the eye, and inhaled deeply. Balling his hand tightly, he approached the door with his fist raised. A chill ran down his spine as the giant pupil tracked his arm's movement. Carefully, he positioned it just below the eye, on the front of the doorway, and…

 _Knock knock knock._

As he withdrew his hand, Frisk looked up at the eyeball. Its gaze seemed to go straight through him, passing judgement in total silence.

 _…_

 _…_

 _…_

 _*Click*_

Without warning, the eye suddenly closed, and with the sound of a lock turning, the door swung open.

"Yes! It worked!" Frisk pumped his arm in the air and turned around to, a wide grin plastered onto his face.

Quote's mouth hung open as he looked back. "I… Wha… _How?_ "

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's polite to knock first?" Frisk teased. "Now come on, you said it was just this way. Let's go check it out!"

Frisk ran through the doorway without hesitation. Quote mumbled something nobody else could hear before slowly following through, the grip on his weapon never loosening.

* * *

The interior of the room was little different from the outside cavern, save for the much smaller space, and the machinery that lay on the far wall. There was a large computer tower with an indented space where a monitor and keyboard were embedded into the machine, which hummed incessantly. A thick cable ran from the bottom, attaching it to another machine – a teleporter, but not as large as the one in Professor Booster's lab, a cylindrical tube that could only hold one person at a time.

Frisk stood in front of the teleporter, staring upwards with a vacant expression. He turned towards Quote and laughed weakly.

"Heh… I uh, forgot that I don't actually know how to use this thing."

Quote rolled his eyes. "Stand aside." His antennae glowed, and the weapon in his hand vanished as he approached the computer monitor. With the press of a key, the screen flickered on. His fingers deftly maneuvered across the keyboard, and teleporter quickly flared to life, a light blue glow filling its chamber.

Withdrawing from the keyboard, Quote turned to face his child companion. "Kid… before we go, there's one thing I have to know."

"What?" Frisk responded. "You mean about the door?"

"Yeah, that," Quote responded. "How the hell did you manage to get past an enemy without a fight?"

"Most monsters aren't bad when you get to know them," said Frisk. "That door was probably just scared of you, that's all."

"But… that doesn't make any sense," said Quote. "That door was an enemy. Why would it…?" He shook his head, cutting off his own sentence. "You know what, forget it. I'll figure it out later. I've programmed the teleporter for two passengers. Just step on it after I'm done, and we'll be back at the village."

Without another word, he stepped onto the teleporter. The machine's light intensified, and with the sound of a _whirr,_ he disappeared.

Frisk looked at the now-empty machine and sighed. What would his friends think about Quote's murderous tendencies? If he didn't do something soon, he knew Quote would only end up causing trouble.

Dreading what would happen next, Frisk stepped onto teleporter, and the room vanished in a flash of light.


	33. Chapter 32

Teleporting was not an unfamiliar feeling for Sans. It was a power that he had acquired some time ago, under circumstances that were only vaguely understood to him, and even more poorly remembered.

Whatever it was that had granted him the power was almost certainly related to the massive, gaping holes in his past that he had become painfully aware of. He'd never told anyone about it, of course – they didn't need to know and it wasn't really all that important. Not when the resets gave him a much better reason to stop caring, at least.

Still, he knew full well of the danger that teleportation presented. One miscalculation could send him and everyone traveling with him hurtling towards an unknown fate. Towards their death, or maybe something even _worse._

The idea of having been in a teleporter accident was not one that he took lightly, needless to say. It took mere moments for him to regain his senses after being sent who-knows-where, and to realize the gravity of the situation. His eye sockets blinked, and he grasped his cranium tightly as the blurry image of his surroundings focused into clarity.

 _Find out where I am now. Save the worrying for later_ , he thought.

Even before he could get a full glimpse of his environment, he could feel it in his bones. It felt… coarse. Coarse and rough and irritating, and it got absolutely _everywhere,_ right down to the tiniest crevices in his sockets.

Sure enough, he soon saw that he was in a massive underground desert. Dunes of fine amber-colored grains filled the cavern, which big enough that it could easily rival the largest chambers of the Underground.

 _Heh. Guess I'm Sands the Skeleton now._

Towards the far wall, perhaps more than a mile in the distance, he could make out the vague shape of weathered sandstone columns. If there was any sign of civilization here, however, it had long since vanished. This must have been the 'Sand Zone' that Jack mentioned before, the place where the mimigas had once settled. Now there was nothing left but ruin, and the vast, uncaring expanse of arid terrain.

Still… even for a desert, there was something oddly quiet about the location. Aside from the occasional flitting of an admittedly quite massive hummingbird overhead, there didn't seem to be much in the way of fauna. Perhaps the Doctor's invasion had taken a toll on the Island's ecosystem… or perhaps the worst he'd suspected about that _other_ android was true. For everyone else's sake, he hoped it was the former.

"Sans! There you are!" an unmistakably raspy voice called out. "We've been looking for you for _five whole minutes!_ "

Sure enough, Sans had turned to see his older brother – or maybe it was his younger brother – striding hurriedly towards him. Following closely behind him was Momorin, who seemed to be struggling to keep up with Papyrus's pace.

Papyrus pulled Sans off the ground, and gave him a massive bear hug. "Don't you _dare_ worry us like that ever again! If anything happened to you, I don't know what I would do!"

" _Oof_ ," said Sans. "Good to see you're alright, bro. Do you think you could put me down now?"

Sans was released from his sibling's grasp and lowered gently towards the ground. He looked over towards Momorin and regarded her curiously. "Hey, thanks for looking out for Papyrus. Any idea what happened with the teleporter back there?"

Momorin shook her head. "I couldn't tell you. There should have been at least a dozen failsafes that shut the teleporter down before it malfunctioned."

"Figured as much," said Sans. "So… what now?"

A subtle crease formed in Momorin's brow, small enough to be barely noticable. Though she outwardly appeared calm, Sans could tell that she was absolutely fraught with worry.

"The others could have gone anywhere, for all I know. Unfortunately, there's no way we'll be able to search the entire Island by ourselves. We'll need to find a way back to the laboratory. We may be able to access the records and find out where the teleport signals were sent.."

"And it'll be far easier now that you're here!" Papyrus declared. "We can just take one of your shortcuts, and we'll be back at the lab in no time!"

"Shortcut?" said Sans. "Sorry bro, but I can't do that right now."

"What!? Why not?"

"I can only take a shortcut if I know exactly where I am and where I'm going," said Sans. "But I don't know the Island's layout, so I don't know my relative location. I wouldn't be able to use one of my shortcuts now."

"NYEH! That… makes sense, I suppose," Papyrus replied. "So what do we do now, then?"

"Actually… there may be someone who could help us," Momorin chimed in. "If I'm not mistaken, there is a witch named Jenka who lives somewhere around here. She should be able to provide us with guidance, maybe even a way to get back to the laboratory."

"Great," said Sans. "Judging by the look on your face, I take it you have some idea of where to look for her?"

"The Core's destruction caused an earthquake that altered much of the Island's interior," said Momorin, "so it may be difficult to find where Jenka lives. Assuming her house is still intact, it should be on the Sand Zone's western edge."

"Sounds like a plan," said Sans. "We should probably get moving, then. Right?"

"Wow!" Papyrus exclaimed. "Sans, are you actually taking initiative? That's wonderful! I'm so proud of you!"

Sans gave what looked like a noncommittal shrug, but the perpetual grin on his skull widened ever so slightly.

Maybe things would turn out all right after all.


	34. Chapter 33

Trekking across the desert landscape was a lot less strenuous than Sans expected. Sure, walking wasn't exactly _hard_ , but he had expected the inhospitable environment to make things a lot more difficult than they were. The hummingbird creatures that hovered overhead didn't seem to pay them any mind as they continued, and with a quick glance above he was able to see a glint of familiarity in their avian eyes.

From what it looked like, the hummingbirds had seen other skeletons before. And yet, as far as Sans could tell, none were to be found. The hummingbirds ignored the group, though Sans couldn't help but catch an additional hint of fear on their faces as they looked at Momorin.

Before he could ponder why that was, his attention was drawn to the sudden incline in the terrain they had walked on. A large hill formed in their path, and as they continued walking along, it gave way to a striking landmark right in the middle of the sands. Sans held out his hand, and the three abruptly stopped in their tracks.

From the top of the hill they could see a large sandstone wall, tall enough to reach halfway to the cavern ceiling. Its masonry was cracked and weathered, and in parts looked as though it had been blown to bits, yet it stood tall regardless. The walls formed the front end of a large citadel, almost the size of an entire football stadium, complete with crumbling siege towers and a front gate left wide open to the elements.

Before the citadel, and directly in their current path, the hill sloped downward into a massive field of blood-red spikes that reached all the way towards the citadel's front entrance. To make matters worse, the pit extended to the left and right for as far as the eye could see, towards the edges of the cave. As far as anyone could tell, there was no way to move around it.

"So, uh… what now?" said Sans.

"I believe Jenka's house should be on the opposite side of this fortress," Momorin replied. "But I'm at a loss as to how we would get there."

"Fear not, my companions!" said Papyrus. "These death spikes may seem like quite the daunting obstacle… but for the Great Papyrus, there is no obstacle too great to overcome! Follow me, Sans! I'll meet you on other side! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

"Wait a minute!" Momorin tried to interject, but her protests were ignored before they could even be made.

Papyrus jumped into the air, pumping his legs wildly. In seeming defiance of the laws gravity, he glided through the air at a leisurely pace towards the citadel entrance. As he crossed the pit of spikes, he floated downwards with the speed of a falling feather, safely landing feet-first at the front gate.

Momorin's eyes widened at the sight. "Impressive! I didn't know your brother could fly."

"Nah, that ain't flying," Sans replied. "It's just jumping real good. Now close your eyes and I'll take you across."

Sans reached out expectantly. Momorin eyed it warily for a moment, but then slowly reached out and held Sans's hand.

"I'm warning you," she said as she closed her eyes, "no shenanigans."

"Me? Never."

Sans glanced away from Momorin and towards the stone gate. A short series of mental equations later, the two were suddenly standing right beside Papyrus at their intended destination.

Momorin opened her eyes and stared past the pit of spike, right at the hill where she was standing just a moment ago.

"Was that… teleportation?"

"It's a shortcut," said Sans, technically telling the truth. "Good thing it worked, eh? We would have ended up with quite the _thorn in our side_ otherwise."

Sans winked, ignoring the sudden and intense glare from his brother. Momorin simply stared back at him blankly.

"…I don't get it."

Sans sighed internally, his permanent grin shrinking almost imperceptibly.

Toriel couldn't get back soon enough.

* * *

The interior of the citadel was spacious, but no less dilapidated. Massive pillars reached upwards from the sandstone floor towards the building's ceiling, where large gaps had formed in the crumbling architecture. But what drew Sans's attention the most were the images engraved into the pillars: the likeness of a single eye.

"That is the eye of Sisu," said Momorin, apparently taking notice of Sans's fascination. "It is a religious symbol that was commonly used on the Island."

"Uh-huh," said Sans. "Do you know where we're going?"

"Not entirely," Momorin replied. "Hopefully we'll be able to find a way out the other side."

Momorin's words weren't exactly encouraging, but Sans couldn't think of anything to say to them. As they walked along the corridor, Sans turned to face his brother.

Papyrus, he'd realized, had been strangely silent since they had arrived in the Sand Zone. Sans noticed the subtle shifts in Papyrus's face, the tiny creases in his clay-like cheekbones. He was worried about something. That he was worried about his friends to be expected, but there was something _else_ he was worried about, something that Sans couldn't quite place.

Sans, for a moment, wondered if he should bother asking about it. Much as he cared about his sibling, he couldn't quite convince himself that it was his place to get involved. He pushed the concern into the back of his mind, yet it stubbornly remained there no matter how hard he tried to ignore it.

Before he even got the chance to vocalize his thoughts, the corridor led into a doorway. The walls and ceiling of the citadel gave way a large square courtyard, leaving the cavern ceiling visible in the relatively open space. The stone floors were replaced by a large bed of sand, though the scatterings of marble tiles that dotted the ground hinted that the courtyard once had a floor as well. Large archways led out of the courtyard in all directions, though the largest by far was the entrance they had arrived from, and the one directly opposite.

But what was most striking by far was the massive pile of bleached-white bones that was gathered in the courtyard's center. Momorin let out a gasp at the sight: it was obvious straight away that they were not made of magic.

"Oh my God!" Papyrus exclaimed. "Sans, can you believe this? What kind of person would leave their bones lying out in the middle of the open? It looks like someone here could use a lesson in hygiene!"

A sudden chill ran up Sans's spine. "Wait a second, bro. I don't think…"

"I've half a mind to go over and clean this up myself! Honestly, must I do _everything_ around here?" Papyrus marched over towards the pile of bones, many of them not even remotely human in shape, and reached out to grab one of them. Before he could even touch one of them, a voice suddenly sounded out.

" **Oi! Who goes there!** " a deep and booming voice called out. " **Itallix, Underlyne! Some bloke's tryin' to steal our bone hoard!** "

"Don't be ridiculous, Bould," a second voice responded in a slow, mellow drawl. "There ain't been nobody 'round these parts since the Island started fallin'."

" _Shaddap, both of you!_ " a third, nasally voice called out. " _We're going to check this out, see? If some two-bit skullheads think they can take our hoard, we'll give 'em what for!_ "

Papyrus jumped back as the ground began to rumble. Sand erupted from the earth, and three skeletons jumped out from where they had apparently hidden underground. Each of them had an appearance that was more draconic than humanoid, with a large dinosaur-like head and a curved mouth filled with sharp fangs.

Each of the dragon-skeletons' bodies were uncovered, leaving their precariously constructed bones exposed to the elements. The largest was nearly twelve feet tall, and had thick bones dyed bright blue. The second skeleton was yellow and stood roughly half as tall, with bones that were thin and wiry. The last was a deep crimson, and was by far the smallest, with short and stumpy bones making up his four-foot-tall body.

" **Well, well, well,** " said the large blue skeleton, " **what 'ave we got 'ere?** "

"It ain't somethin' you see every day, that's for certain," the yellow skeleton added.

The short red skeleton gave a predatory grin. " _Looks like we got ourselves some human-lovers, boys!_ "


	35. Chapter 34

It didn't take an expert in reading faces to tell that the three dragon skeletons were itching for a fight. But Sans, who just so happened to be an expert, could see that there was something more to that. Even taking a cursory glance at them, and he could sense a Level of Violence much higher than normal, even for someone who had lived in an area prone to conflict.

And this time, if something happened to Papyrus, it would _never_ be undone.

"Now, uh… hold on there, guys," he said, trying his best to contain the sudden nervousness in his voice. "I know this is your turf and all, but we don't mean any trouble. We just want to get to the other side of this citadel. Can't you just let us through?"

The three dragon-skeletons glanced at each other. Then, they burst into laughter, their guffaws echoing through the stone chamber.

" **You've got a wee bit o' bollocks talking to us like that!** "

" _Seems our new pals need to be taught a thing or two! You step on our territory, you pay the price, see?_ "

Underlyne nodded. "And that goes double for a bunch of no-good, yella-bellied human-lovers like yourself."

Sans couldn't pry his eye sockets away from the scene long enough to notice that Papyrus had already stepped forward.

"So… I take it you wish to fight, then?" He said, meeting the trio with an ironclad gaze. "Yes… very well. I accept your challenge!"

If Sans were capable of opening his jaw, it would have dropped at the sound. The sudden pang of shock carried deeply into his soul. It was the strongest emotion he had felt in as long as he could remember.

"Papyrus, wait a second." His sockets went dark as he called out. "Just what the heck are you doing?"

"Protecting you, of course!" He declared. Even with the confidence he outwardly projected, his voice wavered slightly, though not enough that most would notice. "A _true_ hero never backs down from a threat! Undyne wouldn't stand aside when her friends are in danger, and neither shall I! Momorin, Sans, stand aside!"

" _So you think you can protect them, do you?_ " said Itallix. _"We'll take care of your little pals after we give you the ol' bada-bing!_ "

"Uh, hey," said Sans. "Papyrus. Bro. Maybe you should rethink this?"

" **Too late for that, boyo!** " said Bould. With a toothy grin, he charged forward, brandishing his claws.

 *** Bould**

 *** AT: 125**

 *** DF: 175**

 *** Vicious and rotten. Somehow thinks 'anarchist' rhymes with 'antichrist.'**

The large blue skeleton let out a vicious vertical slash with his right arm, the lights in his sockets gleaming with murderous intent. Papyrus reacted quickly, and a very long, femur-like bone materialized in his hands. Visibly flinching in anticipation of the impact, he held the bone horizontally and raised it above and in front of his head.

Bould's slashing motion was immediately halted as his forearm collided Papyrus's improvised weapon. Papyrus visibly flinched, only to open his eye sockets and find the massive draconic skeleton standing in place, his claw inches from Papyrus's face, helplessly struggling to push his arm down against the bone blocking his attack.

" **Y-you…. You cheeky little…** "

Papyrus's gaze hardened, glaring back at the giant standing in front of him. His grip on his bone shifted, and in a single motion, he tilted the it to the side. The bone-dragon's claw was immediately pushed away from his body, and Bould staggered backwards with a yelp.

Not wasting the opportunity, Papyrus suddenly followed up with a powerful forward kick. Despite his size, Bould was immediately sent flying backwards, the force of the impact kicking up a massive cloud of sand around Papyrus. Bould collided with the opposite wall of the courtyard with similar force, and the sickening sound of crunching bone and cracking sandstone.

Another cloud of sand stirred as Bould rebounded off the wall and landed onto the ground, and he staggered slowly to his feet. " **God save the queen…** " he muttered, before his unconscious body collapsed into a heap.

"Huh…?" said Papyrus. "Hey! I did it! I actually did it!"

Itallix and Underlyne simply stared back, jaws agape.

"Well would you look at that," Underlyne remarked.

" _Er… howzabout you go next,_ " said Itallix.

Underlyne smiled. "It's about time for me to learn you a lesson, boy. And you ain't dealin' with a simpleton no more."

 *** Underlyne**

 *** AT: 125**

 *** DF: 175**

 *** His strategy: use a bone. If that don't work, use more bone.**

Underlyne held out his claw, and snapped his bony fingers. A massive swarm of lengthened femurs appeared in the air above him, each one with a single end sharpened into a point, granting them a spear-like appearance.

* * *

Sans watched the battle from afar, unable to keep his sights off the repeated clashes of bone and magic. Underlyne sent his bone spears outward in intricate patterns: spears that approached from every direction, spears that burst out of the sand from below, and even spears that changed direction in midair.

Papyrus, with noticeably more confidence than before, managed to dodge whatever spears he could almost effortlessly. Those that he couldn't dodge, he was able to parry with a swiftly-conjured bone in his hands, wielded like a staff just as he had against his previous draconic foe. He anticipated almost every move Underlyne made in advance, almost though he had seen every one of them before.

Still, Sans couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his stomach. Or at least, the place he assumed there would be a stomach if he had one.

"Your brother is very brave," Momorin remarked. "And quite skilled, I might add."

"Yeah," said Sans, "He's pretty good, I guess."

Momorin turned towards Sans and eyed him curiously. "You 'guess?' What do you mean by that?"

Sans shrugged. "I dunno."

"You're worried about him."

"Wha-?"

"Is that correct?" said Momorin. Sans turned his head upwards and looked her in the eye. There was an intuition he felt in her, a deep wisdom that he had not seen in Momorin before. "You're afraid he'll be hurt."

Sans's shoulders tensed for a moment, only to relax as his body surrendered. "Yeah… I guess you're right."

"Then why don't you help him?" said Momorin.

The question pierced through Sans like a knife. Though his toothy grin remained as unchanging as ever, it was clear even at a cursory glance that it was no longer a smile.

"I… I don't know."

* * *

"Nyeh-heh-heh! This is wonderful! All that Royal Guard training really paid off!" Papyrus nimbly moved out of the way of a bone spear that plunged upwards from the sand, before deflecting another that moved to attack him from the side.

Unknown to him, a single bone spear had appeared to his side. It swerved around, and with a loud _smack_ , hit him right in the middle of his cheekbone before dissipating.

Momorin let out a gasp, and Papyrus staggered to the side with a yelp from the force of the attack. Nearly a dozen more sharpened bones appeared in the air, and taking advantage of the opening, pelted him with a relentless barrage of projectiles.

When the last bone dissipated from the impact, Papryus wiped his brow, and let out a deep breath. His body was slightly scuffled, but otherwise he showed little outward sign of injury.

"Hey, not bad!" he cheered. "You did a great job managing to hit me like that! Keep it up!"

Underlyne let out a growl. "Just what in tarnation are you made of, boy? Any other skeleton woulda been dusted by now! Stop being so goddamned resilient! **"**

"It will take more than that to take down the Great Papyrus! Now prepare yourself, for I have devised a truly magnificent attack just for you!"

Papyrus waved his hand, and on his command, a multitude massive femurs erupted out of the sand, sticking straight up with their joints towards the ceiling. Covering a wide area that stretched outwards in front of him and to the sides, they began to move forward at a rapid speed, leaving trails in the sand behind them.

Underlyne, unable to react in time, was battered repeatedly as the bones collided with him, each of them nearly half as tall as his entire body. After being hit nearly a dozen times, the bones vanished, leaving the draconic skeleton barely able to stand. His legs wobbled and his body swayed, and finally he fell over and fainted where he stood.

"Well, that was fun!" said Papyrus. He turned to Itallix and grinned cheerfully. "So then, how about round three?"

" _Y-you… you…_ " There was an audible scraping noise as Itallix began to grind his teeth together. " _This is all just a joke to you, isn't it!? You think this is funny!? What the HELL is so funny!?"_

"Not at all!" Papyrus replied. "I'm more than happy to give you the fight you asked for! But if you want to take a break, that's perfectly fine with me!"

Itallix's entire body quivered with rage. " _That's it! You're freakin' DEAD!"_

 *** Itallix**

 *** AT: 250**

 *** DF: 100**

 *** His favorite bones are broken kneecaps.**

The red skeleton jumped into the air, his claws extended. Papyrus flinched briefly at the sight of the oncoming attacker, yet his attention still remained on the oncoming threat. As Itallix reached the height of his jump, Papyrus waved his hand again. The blood-red bones of Itallix's body suddenly changed hue, turning into a deep blue. The trajectory of his jump was immediately altered, and he fell straight downwards like a rock.

Itallix landed on the ground with a pained cry. As he picked himself up, he looked down at his body, his eye sockets going wide.

" _Wha… my body! What did you do to my body!?"_

"That's my blue attack!" said Papyrus. "Do you like it?"

Itallix sneered. " _Still think you're some kinda wise guy, huh? Take THIS!"_

The dragon-skeleton leaned his head back, and a blinding white glow began to form within his jaw. He lurched forward and opened his mouth. A massive beam of white-hot magic erupted from it, and Papyrus was struck with the full blast as it engulfed his body.

When the beam dissipated, Papyrus's body and costume were both singed and spotted with ash, and the cape on his back had been burnt away. He stumbled backwards, gasping for breath.

"W-wow, that actually hurt quite a bit. I-I do appreciate the challenge, though!"

" _SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP AND DIE!_ "

Itallix let out another blast, Papyrus staggering back further as it dissipated. A large hole had been burned into the front of his armor, leaving an exposed ribcage. He desperately tried to cover it as he clutched at his chest in pain.

"G-gosh, you're really good at fighting…"

His words were only met with a wordless howl of rage, and another blast. Unable to remain upright, Papyrus fell forwards and collapsed onto his knees.

"O-okay, you win!" he said, already on the verge of tears. "Please! No more!"

" _You should have thought of that before you made me a laughingstock, pal!"_ Itallix shouted back. " _Now you're heading straight to the great boneyard in the sky, see?"_

Papyrus closed his eye sockets tightly. Once again there was the sound of a great beam firing. But when he opened his sockets again, he found his body to be no more injured than it was before.

Instead, before him the draconic skeleton stood in place, his body quivering and covered in burns, and his face gaping in utter astonishment. For several seconds, Itallix let out a pained, high-pitched whine.

And then, in a fraction of a second, his entire body collapsed into dust.

Off in the distance to Papyrus's side, Momorin stood frozen, eyes wide, and hands clasped over her mouth. Several yards in front of her was Sans, his eye sockets dark, his arm extended outward with an open palm, and a massive serpentine skull hovering by his shoulder.

In another fraction of a second, the skull disappeared. The lights returned to Sans's eye sockets, and he approached his brother, his grin smaller than Papyrus had ever seen it before.

"Bro… I think we need to have a talk."


	36. Chapter 35

In the moments following the battle's end, Sans had come to dread facing Papyrus afterward. The look on his face as Sans pulled him aside was heartbreaking by itself, but hearing him speak was another thing entirely.

"How?" Papyrus said. "How could you kill him like that? I-I just don't understand…"

Sans averted his gaze, staring at the ceiling of citadel corridor they had moved to, away from Momorin's attention. The emotions that had been previously kept away by apathy had charged right back into Sans's mind to disorienting effect. He couldn't bear to look his brother in the eye sockets. Not right now.

"Look, bro," Sans muttered, "I appreciate you stepping up and taking care of things back there. I really do. But if I hadn't stepped in right when I did, you would have died."

" _I know that!_ " Papyrus snapped. "That didn't mean you had to kill anyone! I… I never thought you capable of doing something like that! And since when could _you_ use Gaster blasters, anyway?"

"I don't have as much control over my magic as you do. Non-lethal combat isn't really-" Sans suddenly cut himself off. The speed at which his head turned was enough that he nearly broke his own neck from whiplash. "-Wait, hold on. What was that last bit?"

"…Gaster blasters?"

"Yeah, that," Sans replied, trying to ignore the inexplicable chill running up his spine. "What exactly does that mean?"

"You know what I mean, Sans!" said Papyrus. "They're those freaky-looking laser skulls!"

Sans paused. Seeing his brother distraught was hurtful, but now… now there was something else. A slow unease building up within his chest cavity. Never at any point in his memory had Sans ever known the name of the specialized weapon he used.

"That's not what I was trying to ask," said Sans. He spoke with and uncharacteristic quickness, his usual laid-back tone subtly wavering. "That name. Where did you hear that name?"

Papyrus looked taken aback by the question. "Gaster… Gaster blaster… hmmm." He put a hand to his chin and scratched it thoughtfully. "Well, isn't that the strangest thing? Now that I actually take the time to think about it, I have _no idea_ how I know that name!"

Sans let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Though he didn't know why, he wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or disappointed.

" _However!_ " Papyrus continued, suddenly raising his voice. "That is entirely beside the point! The point is that you killed someone, Sans!"

Sans shook his head. "Bro, I'm sorry. I love you, really. But I really do think it's unfair for you to fault me for trying to save our lives. If you'd just let me negotiate with those guys to begin with, we wouldn't have even needed to get in a fight."

"Oh…" Papyrus's voice suddenly went quiet. "I see how it is. I finally understand now. This is all because you don't believe in me either."

Sans threw his hands up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second, Papyrus. That's not-"

"Don't play dumb, Sans!" Papyrus shouted. "I _know_ that Undyne's been keeping me from joining the Royal Guard! For my entire life, I've wanted literally nothing more than that! And I mean _literally_ literally!"

Sans blinked. "She did what?"

"You heard me! It's always been my dream to be a Guard like her! And this whole time she's… she's _pretended_ to support me, all while keeping me from reaching my goal! Like she thinks I'll never be good enough! And now there's _you_ too! You… you don't even think I'm good enough to handle a few two-bit ruffians! For God's sake Sans, you're my own brother! I… I can't believe…"

Papyrus couldn't manage to finish his sentence before he collapsed onto his knees. His speech devolved into gross, incoherent sobs. He feebly covered his face, trying to hide the tears that now freely flowed from his eye sockets.

Sans stood completely motionless as he watched the scene before him. There were no words he could think of that were worth saying, none that could even begin to describe what he felt. He slowly reached out a hand, as if to place it on Papyrus's shoulder in a comforting gesture, but stopped just short of touching him. Finally, he pulled his hand back, placed both hands in his pockets, and turned his head away to stare at the ground.

Had Sans been able to see his own face, he would have noticed that for the first time in his life, he wasn't smiling at all.

After what felt like an eternity, the sobs finally died down. Papyrus sniffled, producing a hollow whistle in his nasal cavity, before standing back up

"I-I'm sorry, Sans. I know you mean well," said Papyrus. "I really do. It just feels like you've always been kind of… patronizing. Like you think it's best for me that I don't know what you're up to. And though I don't know what it is… I know there's a lot you've been hiding from me."

"Hm?" Sans turned his head back upwards, and looked his brother face-to-face. Despite his distraught state, there was an unmistakable sense of trust in the way he looked into Sans's eye sockets.

"I know you probably think you're protecting me by not letting me get involved in your affairs," said Papyrus. "But when you're not lazing about, you're always disappearing to God-knows-where and doing God-knows-what. And whatever it is, it's obviously very important to you. I just… I wish I felt like you trusted me enough to tell me. I'm not wrong to think this, am I?"

Sans sighed. "No, not at all. You're right that I'm trying to protect you. When we were in the Underground, I learned a few things about the world we live in. Things that made me spend the rest of my days wishing I could unlearn them. There's no way I could burden you with that."

"Sans, you're being ridiculous! You and I are a family! There's no burden that you'll have to bear alone!"

"Sorry, Papyrus," said Sans. "That's just how it is."

Papyrus frowned and grumbled to himself. "Alright then! I see how it is. If you won't share with me your secret, then perhaps…" he paused for a second, and stroked his chin. "Eureka! I've got it! How about we _trade_ our secrets instead?"

"Trade?"

"Of course!" Papyrus replied. "Think of it not as telling me your secret, but as a… transaction of sorts. A mutual exchange of hidden information! I'll tell you one of my own secrets, and you can tell me yours! What do you think? Will you trade secrets with me?"

"Huh," said Sans. "Not a bad idea. I might do that."

"Great! Without further ado, here is my secret!" Papyrus cleared his throat loudly, and then bent over and whispered next to Sans's skull, right where his ear would be if he had ears to call his own. "Just between you and me… I don't actually hate your puns. In fact, I actually really like them!"

"Whoa, really?" said Sans. "That's nice to hear. Why do you always act so annoyed, then?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Papyrus replied. "I have a reputation to maintain! How can I, the Great Papyrus, be loved by millions when they see that I _adore_ such corny jokes? They'll think I have an atrocious sense of humor! Can you imagine?"

"Wow. Sucks for them to think that way," said Sans.

"I know, right? It's such a difficult sacrifice to make! But enough about that, what's _your_ secret?"

"Whoa there," said Sans. "Who said anything about me telling you my secret?"

" _What?!_ Sans, you promised we would trade!"

Sans gave his brother a sly wink. "Sorry bro, I didn't say I _would_ do that. I said I _might._ "

"NYEH! Curse you and the exactness of your words!" Papyrus exclaimed, trying his hardest to stop himself from giggling. "Fine then! If you don't feel comfortable telling me, that's okay. But should you ever change your mind, I will be the first to find out! That, I promise you!"

"Sounds good to me," said Sans. "Come on, let's go meet with Momorin outside. We've kept her waiting long enough."

* * *

The rest of the journey through the Sand Zone was met with few other obstacles. Sans's shortcuts made quick work of the occasional deadly spike pits that sporadically appeared in the landscape, and what little monster wildlife remained after the Island's near collapse didn't seem interested in bothering them… though it probably helped that Sans gave a very intense glare to any giant hummingbird that came to close.

Eventually, the group came to the westernmost wall of the Sand Zone, forming a sheer cliff. Looking up from the base of the cliff, Sans could see a series of blocks inexplicably hovering in the air, forming a group of platforms leading upwards. At the end of the stone platforms was a large alcove in the cliff wall, with a small, quant-looking house nestled inside of it.

"Climbing these platforms would normally be difficult, but I believe you can handle it," said Momorin. "Isn't that right, Sans?"

"Say no more," said Sans. "Close your eyes and hold my hand."

Sans's next shortcut brought Momorin to the edge of the Alcove, with Jenka's house straight in front of them. Papyrus soon arrived after them, his floaty, physics-defying jumps easily traversing the blocky platforms.

"Hooray!" said Papyrus. "We've made it!"

"Sure have," said Sans. "Let's just cross our fingers that this Jenka lady will be able to help us."

Without another word, the three of them approached the door, hoping that their destination would lead them closer to their lost friends and family.

* * *

It seemed almost impossible to imagine, but Jenka's life had somehow become even lonelier than it used to be. She knew it was inevitable, that there would one day come someone who could finish the job that she set out to do… yet it was no less painful to think about. The five dogs she lived with were nice to have around, but they could not replace what she had lost.

Her house, miraculously, had survived the catastrophe that struck the Island upon the Core's destruction. It was a simple home, with only a rudimentary bed, a fireplace, and a few stray pots. She hadn't even bothered to place any wards to protect it. Maybe it was because she knew few things were strong enough to kill her. Maybe it was because she simply didn't care if something did. As she contemplated her own isolation, the fireplace crackled with smokeless flame of her own conjuration, the dogs curled up against each other beside its warmth, sound asleep.

Then, suddenly, there came a knock at the door. One of the dogs lazily lifted its head and barked, then promptly went back to its nap.

"Now who could that be?" Jenka wondered aloud. "Come in!"

With a _creeeaak_ , the door opened, and in walked a green-haired woman wearing a lab coat, one that Jenka immediately recognized as the mark of the numerous scientists that had visited the Island. But what truly caught her attention were her two companions: a pair of skeletons with a human stature, one short and the other longer.

"Well, isn't this a surprise!" Jenka said, greeting the woman. "I'm happy to see one of you survived the events of last year. What was your name again?"

"It's Momorin. We met last year, during our initial expedition. These two are friends of mine, Sans and Papyrus." She gestured to her two traveling companions, introducing each of them.

"Uh… hey," said Sans. Jenka could feel his magic probing at her psychically, perhaps even unconsciously, trying to sense her power. There was a small bead of sweat dripping down his forehead, as he clearly realized how much stronger she was than him.

She put the thought out of her mind when the other Skeleton, Papyrus, introduced herself. "Greetings, human! Wait… Sans, she's a witch, right? Are witches human?"

Jenka smiled. "Indeed, I am, as are most witches. And you're quite curious, aren't you? You almost remind me of Balrog."

"Oh, you know Balrog?" said Momorin.

Jenka let out a soft, wistful chuckle. "Oh yes, very much so. He was originally a soulless being, you know. A magical construct created as a thrall to the Demon Crown's true master. But over many years, I watched as he began to develop a heart of his very own. I don't think he quite understands the extent of the crimes he was forced to commit, but he really is a sweet fellow.

"Oh, but listen to me! I must be rambling again. I apologize, you're here for something else, aren't you?"

"Yes, actually," said Momorin. "There was a teleporter accident a while ago, us and several others were teleported to random locations. We were hoping you could locate them for us."

Jenka frowned. "Ah... I'm afraid that would be rather difficult, even for one of my power. Teleportation is a dangerous business, and the technology you use is far beyond my understanding. I can send you wherever you like, but I'm afraid I lack the knowledge to track teleportation done by machines."

"Actually, uh… we just need to go to the Island's surface," said Sans. "The teleporter probably keeps some kind of log of its activity, and if we go back to where we came from, we should be able to work something out. Do you think you could help us?"

"That I can do, yes," Jenka replied. "Whenever you're ready, I can send you to the New Mimiga Village. But why don't you stay a while first and keep me company? It's not often I have visitors these days."

"I'm sorry, but we need to leave right away," said Momorin. "It's important that we find the others as soon as possible."

The words almost stung to hear. It had been a long time since she'd spoken to anyone, yet it felt longer.

"I see," said Jenka. "I will admit, I am disappointed. But I understand that saving your loved ones is important. The three of you hold hands and I'll send you back to the Village. Ready?"

"Ready."

Momorin held her hands out by her sides, and each one was grabbed by one of the two skeletons. Focusing her inner magic, Jenka called upon the energy of the Void, and the space between the inside of her hut and the village opened to reveal a tunnel through the fabric of dimensions. In less than an instant, Momorin and her skeletal companions were sucked through the tunnel and deposited on the other side. In even less of an instant, the tunnel was closed and the fabric of space returned to normal.

Jenka let out a sigh of content, and walked over to the fireplace, kneeling down to scratch one of her dogs on the head. Though seeing her guests leave so quickly was saddening, she was more than happy for a chance to see another living soul. Ever since Ballos was defeated.

A pang of regret struck right at her heart. She closed her eyes and a single tear rolled down her cheek. The dog she was petting responded with a sympathetic whimper, bringing himself closer to Jenka's embrace.

"Oh Sisu, give me strength…"

Before she could finish her prayer, her ears were crossed with a series of aggressive barks and growls. Startled, she jumped back, the dog in her arms fleeing to the corner, where all the other dogs were hiding, one among them barking at something at the house's other end.

A shiver suddenly made its way down Jenka's spine. She turned around, and was faced with a monster of massive proportions. He looked like a mimiga, yet he stood taller and bore the horns of a boss monster, the rare breed that had been not been seen since the two mimiga rulers left the Island. It wore a robe blacker than midnight, and a pair of dark streaks were painted beneath its eyes. And most frighteningly of all, both of its eyes were a featureless pool of red, radiating anger and madness that rivaled even Ballos.

The creature smiled, his fangs glistening in the dim light. " _Greetings. I am Samael._ "


	37. Chapter 36

Kazuma wasn't entirely sure what had happened. He was vaguely aware of there being a malfunction with the teleporter as he prepared to leave the Island.

What happened next was… fuzzy. He remembered feeling like he was tumbling through some kind of hole, being unable to breathe, and then blacking out. It didn't take long for him to realize that he still couldn't see, hear, or feel anything.

Just where _was_ he right now?

Kazuma tried to open his eyes, only to find them entirely unresponsive. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't even move a single part of himself. He remained semi-conscious, yet his body and all of his senses were clouded in numbness. The end result was disorienting in a way that he couldn't quite describe, like he was desperately fumbling in the dark, hoping to grasp reality.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed in the interim, but he eventually began to regain some form of sensation. All around him, his skin was enveloped in something cold and… wet? Damp? Moist? Whatever it was, it was far from dry.

Then, more quickly than the last sensation had appeared, he began to feel something else, too. Something pressing strongly against his mouth. It felt coarse and rigid, like something covered in sandpaper. As it continued pressing against him, he felt something filling his chest cavity. At first, he thought that it was air, but it was… different, somehow. More soothing and fluid than the air he normally breathed. Just having it within him brought a newfound feeling of vitality, which quickly seeped into every crevasse of his body.

His eyes soon fluttered open. Right in front his face was Undyne's, pressing her lips firmly against his own.

Kazuma let out an ear-piercing shriek, and violently pushed her away as he sprang to his feet. " _Undyne! What the hell!?_ " His voice was carried with perfect clarity, far from the burbled gibberish that would normally result from talking underwater.

 _Wait… underwater?_

Kazuma took a moment to rub his eyes. A cursory glance showed that both he and Undyne were standing at the bottom of a large reservoir.

"I shared some of my oxygen with you," Undyne replied. "It should be enough to last you for the next hour or so. Let me know when it starts getting hard to breathe, I don't want you drowning on me."

Kazuma let out a sigh, trying not to wince at the feeling of water passing through his lungs. "That's a relief. You almost gave me the wrong idea for a moment there."

Undyne's eye suddenly went wide. "W-what? No way, that's gross! You honestly think I was gonna go out and kiss someone like you?"

"What, you mean a human?" said Kazuma.

"Well, I was thinking more that you're a guy. But that too!" said Undyne. "Anyway, that's not important right now! What's important is that we need to find the others before something happens to them!"

"What?" said Kazuma. "W-wait a minute Undyne, hold on! How the hell are we supposed to go about doing that? We don't even know where they could have ended up!"

"Easy!" Undyne replied. "We search the Island from top to bottom, and we don't stop until everyone is accounted for!"

"But that's ridiculous!" Kazuma shouted back "There's no way we'd be able to search the entire Island by ourselves, that could take _days!_ It'd be impossible to rescue them in that time, and we don't even know if everyone is still on the Island to begin with!"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Undyne shot back. "Are we supposed to just turn our backs on everyone we care about!?"

Kazuma winced as though he had been physically struck. "No, I… I'm just saying we have to be smart about this, that's all. There has to be a better way to save everyone."

"Like _what?_ " said Undyne.

"Like, um…" Kazuma paused, his mind struggling to reach out for any possible solutions as Undyne's intense gaze pressed down hard on him. "Ah, I've got it! The teleporter!"

"You mean the thing that got us in this trouble to begin with?" said Undyne.

"No, you don't get it," said Kazuma. "Teleporters are required by law to keep logs of their activity. If we can make it back to the village, we'll probably be able to find out where everyone was sent."

"Probably?" said Undyne. "Just what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Um… well, there's still some uncertainty involved," Kazuma replied. "There's really no way of guaranteeing we'll find anyone, even if we find out where they went."

"What, are you kidding me!?" said Undyne, "We can't just leave them behind! We have to find them before they get hurt!"

"Yes, I know! Please, just bear with me!"

"They could already be dying, Kazuma!"

" _I KNOW THAT, DAMMIT!"_

The sudden shout came as just as much a shock to himself as it did to Undyne. The two stared at each other in silence, save for the sound of Kazuma's heavy, water-filled breaths.

Undyne's body slowly relaxed, and the tension in her eye slowly dwindled to nothing. She hesitantly raised an arm towards Kazuma, only to lower it, averting her gaze from Kazuma's eyes.

"…Hey," she finally spoke up. "You alright?"

"Do I _look_ alright to you?" Kazuma said.

Undyne shook her head. "Sorry, that was a dumb question. I guess what I'm trying to say is… I can tell you're worried. About your family, I mean."

"That easy to tell, huh?" said Kazuma.

"Yeah. And I'm sorry for getting upset with you earlier," said Undyne. "It's just… I'm worried too, you know? About everyone, Alphys especially."

"Your girlfriend?"

Undyne nodded solemnly. "It's just… don't get me wrong, I'm scared of what could happen to everyone. But in her case… I just often get the feeling she doesn't have a whole lot of self-confidence. Like she couldn't really handle a life-threatening situation. A part of me is terrified she'd just give up."

"I understand the feeling," said Kazuma. He didn't specify whose feeling he understood.

"And that's not even getting into Papyrus," Undyne continued. "Sure, I've taught him how to defend himself. But even then, I still don't think he'd have it in him to get involved in a serious fight. I don't even know if he'd be able to face any real danger on his own."

"No, I get it," said Kazuma. "It's perfectly natural to worry in a situation like this. I shouldn't have yelled at you for that."

"What? Why are you apologizing to _me?_ " said Undyne. "You're the one who was trying to figure out the best way to save as many people as we could! If anything, I should be apologizing to you for the way I treated you!"

"Look, there's no time to argue about that now," said Kazuma. "If we want the best chance of saving everyone, we should try to head to the Village as soon as we can. If I'm not mistaken, we're in the Waterways right now. They connect to every area of the Island, so we should eventually find the village if we head upwards. There's um… just one teensy problem."

"And what's that?"

Kazuma's cheeks began to flush red. "Uh, well… I can't swim."

Undyne rolled her eye. "Come here."

Kazuma let out a startled yelp as he was suddenly grabbed by the arm. Before he could complain, the two of them were already moving up through the reservoir and, hopefully, to their next destination.


	38. Chapter 37

The waterway passages were long, winding, and seemed to carry Undyne and her reluctant passenger in all possible directions, the massive channels occasionally opening into larger reservoirs, only for the sweeping currents to carry the two into more waterways. From the identical blue-green stonework that surrounded them on all sides, it was near-impossible to tell where they had been and where they were going. Throughout the whole journey, Undyne's white-knuckle grip on Kazuma's arm never loosened.

Finally, Kazuma spoke up. "Hey, Undyne?"

"What's up?" she responded, not even bothering to look back. "Need another hit of oxygen?"

"What!? No!" said Kazuma. "I was just wondering; do you know where we're headed?"

"Not exactly, no."

"How reassuring," Kazuma remarked.

"Do _you_ have any better directions, Mr. Smart Guy?" said Undyne.

"…No."

"Then complaining about it isn't going to help," Undyne retorted. "We'll find our way to the top of this Island, even if we have to explore every last inch of these waterways."

Kazuma sighed. Just before he could make another sarcastic comment, he noticed something in the waterway ahead, just above his peripheral vision. Just as the current dipped and headed downward into a lower chamber, the top of the waterway opened into a small alcove with a pocket of air. At the edge of the alcove was a plain metal door embedded in the cavern wall.

"Hey, do you see that?" said Kazuma.

"Must be some kind of maintenance room," Undyne replied. "We should probably check it out."

Before long the two had made it out of the water and into the alcove, though Undyne had a significantly easier time adjusting to the sudden change in environment than Kazuma did.

To say that he felt sick was an understatement. It was nearly impossible for Kazuma to hear anything over the sound of his retching and gagging. He tilted and staggered, his head still feeling like it was being pulled forcefully through the water even as he struggled to walk upright.

Undyne had given him plenty of distance, which turned out to be a good idea when the water remaining in his lungs was forcefully ejected through his mouth. It felt like vomiting, only somehow even more unpleasant.

Undyne wrinkled her nose at the sight. "Jeez!"

"H-hey, don't blame me!" Kazuma gasped. "My body's not built for breathing underwater!"

"Maybe we should go inside and take a rest for a bit," Undyne replied. "Not for too long, just… enough to get yourself back together."

"Yeah, I think I probably need that."

After pausing to catch his breath, Undyne had led the watersick human out of the alcove and through the door beyond.

* * *

The interior of the building was small, and sparsely decorated. There were a pair of bookshelves just to the right of the door just before the wall, and on the opposite wall was a single bed, stationed next to a desk and chair with an antiquated PC. From the cracked, unresponsive and the thick layer of dust, it appeared that the computer had not been used in a long time.

Most notably, however, was a large hole opposite the door that they had entered from. The space beyond its threshold was grey and rocky, but the meager light from the cabin's weak fluorescent lamps failed to show more than a few feet beyond the entrance. The opening in the wall looked like it had been made only recently, and inwardly Undyne wondered if it had been caused by the Island's near-fall during the Sakamoto family's last expedition.

As Undyne sat glumly on the side of the bed, Kazuma had stood by the side of the door, removing his coat to wring out as much water as he could. He was too embarrassed to remove any more of his clothes, even though Undyne had told him that she wouldn't want to look at his scrawny body anyway.

She had tried not to think about how much time they were wasting as they were stopping to rest. In the back of her mind, Undyne knew that anything could have happened to her friends already. She knew that some of them could even be dead.

It was a horrible thought, one that she tried to push out of her head as soon as it made itself known, yet no matter how hard she tried to ignore it, it lingered. Worse yet was the strange feeling of sorrow that swelled within her whenever the thought came to attention. Not merely an ordinary sorrow, but a _familiar_ one. It felt like… like…

…like her friends had already died before. Even though that was impossible, it _felt_ true. It was almost as vivid as any memory that she could recall.

Undyne shook her head violently, trying to shake off the ever-increasing worry that she was going crazy. She slowly picked herself off of the bedside, now dampened by her still-wet body, hoping that whoever lived in the cabin wouldn't mind the indentation in the bed frame left by her heavy armor. Out of boredom, she walked over to one of the bookshelves, while reaching back and wringing the remaining water out of her ponytail.

Most of the books were old covered in dust, but one of them immediately grabbed her attention. Though its leather spine was much less worn than the others, it too was covered in dust as well… but it was a dust Undyne immediately recognized as a different kind.

Feeling her stomach clench and her heartbeat quicken, she reached out towards the book, her skin crawling as her fingers came into contact with its exterior. She winced as she pulled it out of the space where it rested, wiping off the thin layer of grisly soot.

The book was unremarkable, a simple tome bound in plain brown leather. There wasn't even a title or author to be seen. Flipping through it revealed most of the pages to be blank, though she soon realized that there were a sparse few pages near the beginning that had been filled. Her curiosity now overwhelming her revulsion, she squinted her eye, straining to make out the words in the cabin's dim light.

* * *

 **January 12th, 211X**

 _I keep finding myself coming back to this place. The place where I saw her eyes open again. I still remember it vividly, seeing the smile on her face when she looked at me and saw that I was alive. I don't think I've ever seen her happier than that day._

 _I still have nightmares about it. The day that I nearly lost her. In my dreams, I see a world where she had died in the Core's chamber, left behind with no way back. A world where she had never sought to destroy Ballos, where I had never found her on that hellish path. I see in my dreams the Island crashing to the ground, and everything that once lived there dying with it._

 _The dream always ends the same way, with a wish to bring her back. Every ounce of willpower I possess pushing against destiny itself. Every part of me screaming, wanting nothing more than to start over, to find a way that I could have saved her._

 _And then I awake, in a world where she had always lived._

 _I don't know what it means. I don't know why the dream feels so real. Sometimes it's so convincing that I wonder if this world is the dream, and the world where she'd died is reality._

 _Maybe that's why I keep coming back here. Maybe that's why I felt the need to write this. Maybe I just need to remind myself that she survived._

 **February 27th, 211X**

 _Spending time with her no longer brings me the satisfaction that it used to. Even before I met her, I was vaguely aware that I had a purpose, but it wasn't until I had fought by her side that I felt my existence really MEANT something._

 _I had given everything for her. I fought knowing that it was for her sake. Together we'd faced unimaginable odds and defeated everyone who stood in our way. But all of that is gone now that everything is peaceful._

 _I don't know what to do with myself now. Every day I feel more and more deprived. It's difficult to describe, like a creeping numbness from within._

 _I've started going on regular hunts, hoping to feel something again. So far, it hasn't helped any. As far as I know, it could be a useless exercise._

 _…but I just don't know what else I CAN do._

 **March 15th, 211X**

 _The Blade has abandoned me. It used to lend its power to me easily, but over the past month I've felt that power fade away. Now that power is gone, leaving it little more than a large cutting knife._

 _Maybe it's for the best that I leave it behind. I've already fulfilled the promise I made, and a weapon that won't serve me is useless._

 _I probably won't bother coming back here again, or writing in this journal. I can't let myself be distracted from my mission. The hunt is my true purpose now._

* * *

The rest of the pages were blank, as sure as the writer had promised. Undyne closed the book forcefully and placed it back on the shelf, trying not to shiver at the chill that had suddenly run down her spine.

 _Whoever wrote this book is still out there_ , she realized. _As if I don't have enough to worry about._

Before she could continue that train of thought, she noticed a glint of steel in the space between the bookshelves. Crouching down, she peered her eye between the crack and saw the edge of a sword. It almost seemed to glow on its own, its metallic surface gleaming more brightly in the cabin than the dull fluorescent lamps would seem to allow.

Undyne reached her hand into the crack, carefully probing her fingers up the weapon's surface, until she grasped the handle. Pulling it out carefully, she was able to look at the sword clearly.

It was a simple one-handed longsword with an unremarkable design, though she could tell that the weapon was forged from finely-crafted metal. Its otherwise plain appearance was made distinguishable with a large green ribbon that was tied onto the grip, just below the cross-guard.

As she held the sword up in front of her, she felt… something. It was difficult to describe, like a gentle warmth, but there was also something else. Something that resonated with every part of her being, flowing inwards into her body, until it penetrated her very soul.

The Blade was not merely a weapon, she realized. The Blade was something altogether greater than that. But what that was, she did not yet know.

Shifting her grip on the weapon, she stood back and gave a practice swing. Then a few more. Thrusting, stabbing, slashing, she danced with the Blade, carrying a grace she could not have possibly anticipated. The spear was the only weapon that she'd ever trained with, and yet she could make use of the Blade effortlessly. It didn't even feel like a weapon at all, but simply another part of her own body.

Kazuma, not fully paying attention, approached Undyne as he finally squeezed the last bit of moisture out of his coat.

"Hey Undyne, I think I'm feeling just about ready to – _gyah!_ "

He let out a startled cry as the Blade came just inches away from his face, slicing the rolled-up jacket he was holding in his hands in two. He stumbled backwards and fell onto his backside.

" _Ngah!_ " Undyne cried out. "Oh my God! Kazuma, are you okay!? I'm so sorry!"

Kazuma's body trembled as he pointed a shaking hand at the sword. " _Y-you put that thing away before you kill me with it!_ "

"I-it was an accident, I swear! I didn't mean it!"

In a panic Undyne reached forward to help Kazuma to his feet, only to freeze in her tracks. The sword that had once been in her hands was gone. It had disappeared as soon as she had thought about putting it back where she had found it.

Judging by the look on his face, Kazuma was equally shocked. Undyne stood back, and held her hand at arm's length in front of her. With a single thought, the Blade materialized in her grip once more in a flash of light. With another, it disappeared once more. She repeated the process several times, calling the sword up and dismissing it as easily as she would summon one of her own spears.

"Okay, now _I'm_ starting to get a little bit freaked out here…"

" _You're_ freaked out!? You nearly cut my face open!"

"L-look, it's going to be fine, alright?" said Undyne. "I… I don't think this Blade will come unless I call it… somehow. But I promise I won't hurt you, alright?"

Kazuma exhaled deeply, letting the tension in his body deflate. "…Yeah, I know. Not intentionally. Just… be careful with that, alright?"

"I will," said Undyne. "You need a hand up?"

"No, it's fine," said Kazuma. He picked himself up onto his feet, and wiped dusted off his shirt, a garment of striking teal-and-red plaid. "I'm going to miss that lab coat, though."

Undyne gave a large, toothy grin. "Pshaw, that old thing? Alphys has those by the dozens! If we make it out of this alive, I'll get you one with no problem!"

"Yeah, thanks," Kazuma couldn't help but reply with a smile of his own. "So, uh… what now?"

"Well," said Undyne, "I was thinking about going through that tunnel over there."

Kazuma glanced over to where Undyne was looking, towards the massive hole in the cabin wall that led deeper into the Island's interior. "You're joking."

"Would you prefer we go back to going around in circles?" said Undyne. "You know, in the _water?_ "

Kazuma glanced back at the cave, then back to Undyne. "…Right. Tunnel it is, then."


	39. Chapter 38

The interior of the cave was no less dark than it had appeared from the outside, though it was also noticeably colder than the cabin they had entered from. A cool air blew harshly from deeper within as Kazuma hesitantly followed Undyne through the passage, leaving him feeling oddly fatigued – as though it were actively draining the strength from his body.

As they went further inwards, the light subsided even more, until Kazuma could see no more than the faint outline water nymph leading him.

"I wish I'd brought my flashlight with me," said Kazuma.

"Hm?" Undyne paused in her tracks and turned her head around, or at least that's how it looked based on how the vague shape in front of Kazuma was moving. "Oh, right. You probably can't see as well as I can."

"You can see in the dark?"

"Kinda," Undyne replied. "Being half-blinded was really inconvenient, so I started training to improve the vision in my other eye. Depth perception's still a bit difficult, but I can generally see a lot better than most monsters can."

"You know, I've been curious about that," said Kazuma. "How'd you lose your eye, anyway?"

"Oh, that? Funny story about that, actually." In the darkness, there was a brief glint of light coming from right around the place where Undyne's teeth would be. "I got a little bit overzealous when I was making toast one day, and I ended up gouging my own eye out with a fork. Pretty wild, eh?"

Kazuma's mind seemed to skip over the sentence like a broken record. It took several tries before his brain could process the information.

"I'm not even going to guess how that works, but that sounds _exactly_ like something Sue would do."

Undyne laughed. "Your sister's a tough one, I'll give her that! I'm sure she'll make it out of this just fine. Heck, I already have a couple things in mind to teach her when we get back!"

"…That's what I'm afraid of," Kazuma muttered.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" said Undyne.

"Never mind," said Kazuma. "Do you have any other sources of light on you? I know it's a stretch, but…"

"Actually, I think I do. Hold on a second."

Undyne held her arm in the air. With a _vwoom_ , a glowing, teal-colored spear materialized in her hand. Holding it upwards like a torch, the light from the ethereal weapon illuminated the dark cavern.

Flashing Kazuma very toothy grin, Undyne turned herself around… only to find herself staring straight at a purple cloaked figure not two feet in front of her.

" _Ngaaaaaah!_ " Undyne let out a startled cry and jumped backwards. Reflexively, Kazuma reached out and grabbed her as she fell, catching her beneath her arms and holding her semi-upright, her body surprisingly lightweight despite her armor.

As Undyne fell backwards, her spear rocketed out of her hand, spinning in the air, before being suddenly caught and held upright by the robed figure.

It was then that Kazuma noticed something strange about the person standing before them. Though the colored light from the magic spear painted everything else the cavern a bright blueish-green, the hand of the robed figure remained strangely darkened, a dull grey that seemed to actively repel the color of the light.

The robed figure let out a childlike giggle. "Why, hello there."

"Y-you!" Undyne stood herself up, pulling out of Kazuma's grasp with enough force that it nearly yanked his arms straight off his sockets. "You're the Riverperson! Just what the hell are _you_ doing here!?"

"That's a silly question, isn't it?" The Riverperson playfully chided. "I've _always_ been here. Are you enjoying the tunnel that I made for you so far? I do hope you find it helpful."

"Wha…" Undyne paused, her face seeming to shift between several different expressions, as though her brain were still stuck on the words she'd heard. "…I'm sorry, could you repeat that?"

"Hold on," said Kazuma, "If they dug the tunnel for us, then that would mean they _knew_ we would be here. But I don't know how that's possible, unless…" The rest of the sentence became caught in his throat. Out of all the explanations he could think of, only one of them made sense, and it was far and away the one that worried him the most.

"I know what you're thinking," the Riverperson spoke, "but I can promise you that I'm not the one who sent you here. Your true enemy is one far more powerful than I."

"Whoa, whoa, time out!" Undyne interjected. "What do you mean by _enemy?_ Are you saying that teleporter malfunction wasn't an accident?"

The Riverperson gave another giggle. As it crossed Kazuma's ears, he couldn't help but notice that it sounded… different. Though the laughter carried genuine emotion, it had a distinct hollow sound to it, like it was being transmitted through an aluminum can. Even more bizarrely, the sound did not seem to come from the Riverperson's direction, but instead crossed his ears from all directions at once.

"Indeed, your enemy is the one responsible for bringing your friends apart," said the Riverperson. "He is a formidable villain, driven by hate and madness. Even though my eyes are all-seeing, there is little I can do to confront him directly. Instead I've chosen to conduct my affairs from afar, and prepare you for what lies ahead. Though the path of Fate is ever-changing, with my knowledge I can gently guide it in your favor."

Undyne held up her hand, and gently massaged her temples with the other. "So, let me get this straight. You're telling me you can _see the future._ "

Another giggle echoed through the cavern from all directions. "Oh, absolutely! And I can also see that you'll meet your friends and loved ones very soon. Simply make your way to the New Mimiga Village, and you'll be reunited with everyone. Oh, and I believe this is yours."

The Riverperson held out Undyne's spear, and before she could even fully realize what was just said to her, she had already reached out and grabbed it.

"Hey, thanks– wait, _what?_ Hold on! What'd you say about our friends!? Tell me!"

Undyne's words were met only with silence. The Riverperson had already disappeared, leaving a purple cloak lying motionless on the rocky floor.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Tra la la...**

 **Oh, hello there. I'm terribly sorry, but the Author isn't here right now. I've decided to keep watch until he returns... not that I'm ever not watching, of course.**

 **I'll be seeing you later...**


	40. Chapter 39

Absent the perplexing visitor that claimed to have carved it from the bedrock, Kazuma found the rest of the journey through the caverns to be fairly uneventful. It was a twisty little passage that looked alike in every part, turning and curving through the bowels of the Island. The tunnel was just long and windy enough that it felt disorienting to his overall sense of direction, yet still linear and straightforward enough that traveling through it was utterly boring.

As he followed behind Undyne, he noticed that her left hand had begun to fidget uncomfortably by her side, as her right hand held up the spear that illuminated their path.

"Ugh, how long does this thing go _on?_ " she groaned.

"Don't ask me," Kazuma replied. "Honestly, I'm not even sure we're headed in the right direction."

"The Riverperson said we'd find our friends at the Village," said Undyne, "of _course_ it's the right direction."

"And how exactly do you know that?" said Kazuma. "They didn't even say if this path would lead us back to the Village. Heck, we don't even know if they were telling the truth about meeting our friends. Everything they said is completely suspicious, so should we trust that they were telling the truth about anything?"

"Well, you're the idea guy around here," Undyne retorted. "Do _you_ have any better plans, genius?"

"W-well, I, uh… no." Kazuma stammered.

"Then keep walking," said Undyne.

Any further words Kazuma was think of speaking promptly died before they could leave his mouth. With a sigh, he followed after Undyne and the two continued their way down the cavern.

* * *

After what had seemed like hours of walking, Kazuma and Undyne had both saw a faint light in the distance, towards the edge of their view of the tunnel's path. As they approached, the light grew brighter, and it became apparent that the tunnel had reached its end.

Undyne's pace quickened to a brisk walk, and Kazuma followed after her, eager to see where the path they had taken would lead them.

As they exited the end of the tunnel, the two were greeted with a new sight. For Kazuma, it was one that was already familiar to him, but no less impressive. Undyne, on the other hand, had stopped immediately in her tracks, staring out with her mouth agape at the view from the tunnel's entrance.

The two stood on a small ledge overlooking the Island's Outer Wall. Beyond it was a sea of shimmering clouds, their billowing mass reflecting the light of the sun as it dipped towards the edge of the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant red and gold. A gentle breeze blew at a constant pace, causing Undyne's hair to flutter in its current.

"It's… It's…"

Kazuma smiled. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

"I… I've never seen anything like it," Undyne spoke in a hushed tone. "I didn't even see the sun until recently, but this… this is like nothing I'd ever even imagined."

"We can stay here for a while if you want," said Kazuma.

Undyne shook her head. "As breathtaking as it is, that's not what's important right now. We have to make our way to the top of the Island."

Kazuma turned around and looked up, towards the Outer Wall. As far as he could see, there was no sign of any path upwards, just sheer cliff rocky face all the way to the top.

"Er… how?" he said.

Undyne turned her around and flashed Kazuma a very toothy grin.

Kazuma gulped. "I don't think I like the look you're giving me right now…"

* * *

"Th-this was a terrible idea! Why did I agree to this!?"

Kazuma's knuckles turned had already turned white from the strain of maintaining his grip on Undyne's armor as he desperately clung to her, piggyback-style. The two ascended the Island's side at a steady rate, with Undyne carefully moving her body up the rocky footholds that dotted the Island's side.

Every so often their climb would bring them onto a platform jutting out from the Wall, big enough for the both of them to stand on. Before Kazuma could even think to get off and take a break, Undyne had already leapt from the platform onto the edge of the Outer Wall, climbing further and further. It took every bit of willpower Kazuma had to resist his curiosity and look down. Worse, the constant wind would occasionally blow Undyne's ponytail into Kazuma's face, and with his hands occupied he could do little to stop it.

Gradually, the sun had continued to set as Undyne carried her passenger up the sheer face of the Island. Soon night had already fallen, and the vibrant evening sky turned to a star-speckled canvas of night.

It was shortly after the sun had dipped below the horizon that Undyne made her way to another platform on the Island's side. Climbing onto the relatively solid ground, she took several steps inward and let out a deep breath.

The platform was easily the largest of any that they had encountered thus far, covering a large enough area for nearly a dozen trees to grow from the soil that rested upon the bedrock, and a small pond in the center. Long, blueish-green grass covered the area, swaying gently in the win.

Before Undyne could say anything, Kazuma abruptly let go of his desperate embrace, falling backwards onto the ground with as much grace as a rock.

"I'm guessing you want to take a break, right?" Undyne teased.

Kazuma sat on the ground and panted heavily, just barely propping his torso upright with his arms. "G-gah… I can't believe I let you talk me into doing that."

"Hey, don't worry about it," said Undyne, "I would have sooner died than let you fall."

Kazuma let out a sigh, too tired to argue the point. "Right… so you're just going to rest here for a bit and catch your breath?"

"Actually, I was thinking we might want to rest here for the night," said Undyne. "It'd be too dangerous to continue climbing when there's so little light out, especially after exerting ourselves so much. I'd rather not risk burning myself out or missing a foothold when one mistake could send us plummeting to our deaths."

"Huh. That's actually a good idea," said Kazuma. "It's strange, I never really expected you to be one to play it safe."

Undyne's eye narrowed slightly. "You don't become captain of the Royal Guard by allowing yourself to make mistakes on a critical mission. Not when people's lives depend on it."

"What? No, no, I didn't mean it like that!" Kazuma hastily responded.

Undyne's expression loosened, and she let out a laugh. "Man, you really are tense! You need to learn to lighten up a bit, it'll do you good."

Kazuma blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Anyway, I'll see if I can get some firewood from one those trees," said Undyne. "You might want to dust yourself off, you look filthy."

Kazuma looked down at his clothes and saw that they were covered in stains from the grass, smeared into the fabric with the sweat that he had accumulated over a very stressful journey. Butterflies formed in his stomach as he realized that he would never find a proper laundry facility before the stains set in.

His face turned red, and he muttered a long string of words that he would never think to repeat in Sue's presence.

* * *

The campfire crackled eagerly in the nighttime air, its gentle glow illuminating the small patch of dirt that Undyne and Kazuma had made their campground. Kazuma held his held his hands to the fire, hoping to warm his body from the chills given to him by the near-constant breeze, while Undyne sat further away, giving herself more distance from the flames.

Undyne gave Kazuma a fishy grin. "So, got any campfire stories?"

"Campfire stories?" said Kazuma.

"Yeah! You know, stories you tell around a campfire," Undyne replied. "You've never told stories while camping before?"

"I, uh… never really had the time to go camping," said Kazuma. "Mom's always been too busy with her research to take us anywhere, and she's spent the last year home-schooling Sue on top of that. And I've been doing housework the whole time in addition to attending college at Ebotyo University. Between all of that, there just isn't any time left for family trips."

"Geez, sounds like you've got your hands full," said Undyne.

Kazuma gave Undyne a warm smile. "Yeah, I do. Sue's certainly not going to be taking care of the house anytime soon. Ever since the Spaghetti Incident, she isn't even allowed to touch the stove."

"I think I heard Sue mention that before," said Undyne. "Did she-?"

"You don't want to know," Kazuma deadpanned.

Undyne chuckled. "Well, I was going to say I have a hunch about what happened there, if you can believe it. Either way, it sounds like things were pretty tough for you, especially without your father."

Kazuma froze. He could almost feel his heart skipping a beat. "M-my… father?"

"Well yeah," Undyne replied. "I haven't seen him around, and I'm pretty sure you haven't mentioned him… I'm guessing he's not with you anymore, right?"

Almost instantly, Kazuma's body became tense. "Let's, uh… not talk about that right now. Please."

"Hey, if it's a sensitive thing you don't have to talk about it," Undyne quickly reassured. "I was just curious, that's all."

"It's nothing you need to know about," said Kazuma. "So, um. How about I instead tell you that campfire story you were talking about? I don't know any story specifically for camping trips, but I'm sure I know something."

"Great!" said Undyne. "Let's hear it, then!"

"Um… hold on." Kazuma paused, holding a finger up to his chin. Truthfully, he had learned a great many stories over the course of his life, and in his study in archeology he had become intimately familiar with the myths and legends of many cultures. Yet the notion of telling stories around a campfire was a new experience for him, and he struggled to find one that he found suitable. After careful deliberation, however, one story in particular made its way to the forefront of his mind.

"I think I've got one," Kazuma said. "It's not exactly an ordinary story – more like a creation myth. It's one of many legends we found recorded in the Island's ancient religious texts during our last expedition. Here's how it goes…"

As Undyne leaned in closer eager to listen, Kazuma cleared his throat and carefully recited the story that he had spent his work on the Island studying.

* * *

 _In the beginning, long before the world that we know was born, there was naught but formless chaos. Upon this chaos, a great willpower exerted itself, and Sisu, the Father of All, came into being._

 _Sisu looked upon the boundless void, and wished that there was something more. With determination beyond mortal comprehension, He created order from chaos, and imposed form onto the formless. And thus, Sisu's will gave birth to the earth, the seas, and the infinite expanse of the heavens. As He fondly regarded His work, Sisu desired that others could share in its beauty. From the cosmic dust left over from creation, He fashioned creatures of magic who could fully experience His wonders._

 _But soon, something happened that even Sisu did not expect. The creatures at first shared no fondness but that for the world of His design. However, as they experienced the joy and wonder of the earth, they developed a fondness for each other as well. From this fondness grew bonds of trust, and from the trust they shared grew compassion, hope, and love. Thus, the first souls were born._

 _Seeing the rise of the first ensouled beings, Sisu was fascinated. He saw within such souls an unparalleled beauty, one that had emerged entirely without His interference. Yet Sisu still yearned for something more, for despite their beauty the first souls were still fleeting and finite._

 _And so, Sisu split himself into innumerable pieces, scattering them across the earth. Each fragment, infused with His power, became a new soul with infinite potential. The souls embedded themselves within the land, and shaped it into living forms that possessed the strength of a mountain and the unwavering resolve of a coursing river. Thus, the first humans came to be: living shards of the Father of All._

 _Embodying the will of Sisu, the humans spread to every corner of the world, and claimed it as their own domain; for it is the Father of All's will that He experience the world as only His own creations could._

* * *

"…And that's the story," said Kazuma. "At least, that's what I remember of it. It's been a while since I've read the texts, and I could have made a few mistakes in translation."

Undyne's one remaining eye was left wide open, staring aghast at Kazuma. "No way. You can't be serious."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean!" Undyne snapped, "You're telling me that humans are the descendants of a freaking _god? That's_ the reason you think you're all so much stronger than us?"

Kazuma threw his hands up. "Whoa, hey now! There's no need to take it personally, it's just a myth. There's thousands like it in cultures across the globe."

"No, you don't get it!" Undyne shot back. "It explains _everything!_ Why you humans don't even need to feel love or hope in order to live! Why you're all so damned _powerful!_ Why you humans think you're entitled to have this world for yourself!"

"H-hey, we're not all like that…"

Undyne propelled herself up from her sitting position and stood upright, shouting violently. " _I KNOW you're not all like that!_ _That's not the point!_ "

Kazuma flinched, his body quivering as he weakly held up his hands between himself and Undyne. As he cowered, his thoughts instinctively lingered on the very large and very angry set of carnivorous teeth that the water nymph had bared in her rage.

The campground went silent, save for the sound of Undyne's heavy breathing. Seconds passed, and Kazuma's body relaxed. He lowered his hands to find Undyne staring at him pitifully. She sat back down, and looked away, staring at the starlit sky.

"You're really afraid of me, huh?" said Undyne.

"I…"

"No, don't say anything," Undyne interrupted. "I get it. You've probably seen monsters as the creatures of your nightmares for most of your life. That's how it always goes in human stories. But you're not the ones who should be afraid of us. _We're_ the ones who should be afraid of _you._ "

"But… why?" said Kazuma. "Not why you're afraid of us, I mean. Why the outburst? Why _now_?"

Undyne glanced towards Kazuma, then back at the web of constellations that dotted the sky. "…Because I never wanted to believe you really _were_ all stronger than us. That story… I guess it just reminded me of how powerless monsters really are."

"Powerless? You? Undyne, that's..." Kazuma let out a short, wavering laugh. "…Come on, that's ridiculous. You're far stronger than I could ever possibly hope to be. Compared to you, I'm… well, I'm downright worthless."

"It doesn't matter what you think of me," said Undyne. "You're still human. That means your soul has a strength no monster could ever attain on their own. And your body is made of tougher stuff, too. Unlike us, attacks don't harm you through bad intentions. You could take ten times as much punishment as any of us. And you could just as easily kill any monster without even trying, as long as you hate us enough."

"But I _don't_ hate you," said Kazuma.

Undyne sighed, and placed her hand on her forehead. "Yes, Kazuma, I _know_. I _know_ you don't hate us. But it doesn't matter. There's billions of humans out there, and some of them probably _do_ hate us. And with how few monsters are left, it wouldn't take very many humans to wipe us out for good."

"Do you really think that would happen in this age, though?" said Kazuma. "People are a lot more accepting each other than they used to be."

"It _could_ ," said Undyne. "And that's the problem. We lived for a thousand years being slowly deprived of hope because humans refused to understand us."

"Right," said Kazuma, "of course."

"You _still_ don't get it," Undyne firmly replied. "Hope isn't just an abstract thing for us like it is for you. It's _literally_ the lifeblood that sustains us. If monsters don't feel like our lives have meaning, like there's something for us to really live _for_ , then our souls grow too weak to support our bodies. If we don't have future to believe in, we'll gradually lose our strength until we fall down and die. Depriving a monster of hope is the cruelest thing you could possibly do to them."

"Hope, huh?" said Kazuma. "I'll admit, it's strange to imagine it being an actual necessity for life. But I don't know a whole lot about monsters, either."

"That's fine," Undyne responded. "I'm not expecting you to know everything, especially since most humans didn't even know we really existed. I just… I can't help but worry. When you talked about humans being descended a god, and inheriting the earth, I couldn't help but think about just how much power humans really have had over us. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"No, that's perfectly alright," said Kazuma. "Given what monsters have been through, I don't think I can blame you for feeling so strongly." He let out a yawn, and stretched out his arms. "It's getting late. We should get some sleep."

"Yeah," said Undyne, mimicking Kazuma's yawn. "Sleep… sounds good right about now."

With the fire still crackling, Kazuma rested his head on the dirt. As he drifted into slumber, a single word remained in his thoughts, echoing deeply into his subconscious mind.

 _Hope…_

* * *

"Fhtagn."

Undyne gradually pried her eye open, her consciousness pulled out of the world of sleep by the strange, guttural voice crossing her ears. She sat up blearily and stretched her limbs, blinking heavily to adjust her vision to the waking world.

To her mild surprise, it was still the middle of the night, the darkness compounded by the campfire having burned itself out. To her even bigger surprise, there was a strange creature standing directly in front of her. Though it appeared human, it wore a green cloak that throbbed and pulsated as though it were made entirely of flesh, and its eyes were devoid of any pupil or iris.

" _Ngaaaaah!_ " Undyne let out a cry, and jumped upwards into a fighting stance. The familiar weight of the Blade fell into her hand as her weapon materialized out of thin air. "Just what do you think you're doing, creep!?"

"Relax," a voice called from afar, "that's just a cthulhu. They're harmless."

"Ia! Ia! Fhtagn." The cthulhu giggled in a distorted voice as it walked into the nearby pond and submerged itself, all the while mumbling to itself in a bizarre, unidentified language.

The tension in Undyne's body unwound as she saw the strange creature leave. Dismissing her weapon, she turned towards the source of the voice that had called to her. What she saw immediately made her heart sink.

Standing right atop the platform's edge was Kazuma, his feet a mere fraction of an inch from the fall that would send him plummeting to his death, staring directly into the abyss.

Written on his face was a deep sadness that Undyne had only ever seen once before.

* * *

 **A/N: The creation myth of Sisu is one that I'd been tweaking for some time, and while it has been alluded to in parts before, this is the first chapter where I decided to explain it in full. It's not especially relevant to the story, and whether or not it's true in-universe won't ever be directly stated (it is a myth, after all), but it's a neat bit of world-building I felt like including.**

 **While it hasn't been explained in-story, "Sisu" is named after a Finnish word which roughly means "determination." It's a concept which has some significance in Finland's culture, so I did have to ask an acquaintance from Finland to make sure it wasn't insensitive, but from the feedback I've received it's not something I should have to worry about too much in terms of offending someone. That said, I can't tell you how to feel, so you're free to disagree.**


	41. Chapter 40

**NOTE: This chapter contains references to suicide, abuse, and implied rape. None of it is shown or described, but it is alluded to both the events of the chapter and backstory.**

* * *

It was impossible to overstate just how easily it would have been to fall to his death. The Island was more than five miles above the ground, and with how closely he stood at the ledge, even the smallest movement would send him falling to his inevitable death.

"Kazuma."

He didn't even notice the sound of his own name. Thoughts swirled like a hurricane within his mind, thoughts of family, friends, of sorrows and hardships, of his own mistakes…

"Kazuma!"

How likely was it that he would ever see the rest of his family again? The only assurance he had was from a cloaked figure that could just as easily be guiding him into a trap. Most of the others probably already thought he was dead by now. If he really was gone, how much would he _really_ be missed?

" _Hey! Kazuma!_ "

Kazuma was startled so much by the shouting that he fell forward, teetering over the ledge, only to be immediately caught beneath his armpits by a powerful pair of arms. With little effort, they pulled him inward and sat him down on the grass, and his apparent savior sat down directly in front of him.

"Bwuh? Undyne?" It had taken him a moment to fully process what had just happened.

Undyne stared directly into Kazuma's eyes. Written on her face was an expression of profound concern. It was one of the very few times Kazuma had seen her not showing her teeth.

"So, Kazuma… is everything alright with you?" she said.

"Yeah, everything's fine," Kazuma replied flatly.

Undyne frowned. "No. Don't lie to me. I _saw_ the look you had on your face. I _know_ that look. Don't tell me everything's alright, because it clearly isn't!"

Kazuma's body involuntarily tensed. This was getting way too personal _way_ too quickly. "What do _you_ know? You've only just met me!"

"Don't bullshit me!" Undyne snapped. "I've seen this _exact_ same thing before! Don't tell me I don't recognize what you were just trying to do!"

"Heh." Kazuma let out a single, joyless laugh. "You don't know what you're talking about."

" _Yes I do, dammit!_ " Undyne shot back. "You were just about to throw yourself off that cliff!"

Kazuma couldn't articulate a response through the numbness that had suddenly enveloped his senses. Despite the forcefulness of her words, the steely-eyed fierceness Undyne's face typically held had all but completely melted away. The two stared at each other without speaking a thing, their silence saying more to each other than words ever could.

It was Kazuma who finally let his voice be heard, barely speaking above a whisper. "…So that's what this is about. For a moment I almost thought you were worried about something important."

To his surprise, Kazuma felt his hand being suddenly grabbed and pulled forward as Undyne held it in front of her. Despite the firmness behind it, the gesture was performed in an astonishingly delicate fashion. He'd expected his hand to be crushed, but Undyne's own hand was extraordinarily gentle and soft to the touch, with a physical warmth like an electric blanket. It was a far cry from the cold, scaly, and rough skin that he'd felt from the last time he'd come into contact with it.

It was almost enough to make the numbness that permeated him disappear. Almost, but not quite.

Undyne stared Kazuma straight in the eye with a pleading face. "Don't say that! You're worth so much more than you think you are!"

Kazuma shook his head. "Reciting lines from a soap opera isn't going to change anything, Undyne. I've never done anything but let the people I care about down. No kind words are going to change that."

"Kazuma, that's ridiculous!"

"No, it isn't!" said Kazuma. "You don't even know how badly I've screwed up! We've barely even known each other a day, and you're acting like you know me well enough to tell me I didn't do anything wrong!"

Undyne turned away from Kazuma, towards the starlit sky, then turned back to face him. "…You know what? You're right. I don't know what's going on with you exactly. But whatever it is, it can't be worth this. It can't be worth ending your life over."

"And what if I told you that I left my entire family for dead?" There was a sudden forcefulness to Kazuma's voice, becoming ever more noticeable as he spoke. "What if I told you that I turned my back on everyone I cared about when they needed me the most? What if I told you that I ran away, because I've never been anything more than a goddamned _coward?_ "

"Kazuma…"

" _No!_ " Kazuma's entire body went stiff as he suddenly stood upright. "Don't say anything! Don't tell me that I haven't failed anyone! Just stop lying to me, dammit!"

His entire body trembled as he glared at Undyne, tears welling up within the corners of his eyes. It felt like everything that he had been keeping inside of him had reached its boiling point and was just about to burst. His legs wobbled under the pressure, until he finally collapsed back onto the ground, holding his face in his hands.

He soon felt a hand reaching on top of his shoulder. He lifted his head and saw that Undyne had approached him, and was now sitting by his side. Though she said nothing, the expression on her face told everything.

"...You're not going to give up on this, huh?" said Kazuma. "Just like you don't give up on anything. You really are everything I could never be."

"Kazuma. Look at me." Undyne stared him straight in the eye, and despite her firm tone, there was something oddly reassuring about it. "I meant what I said before. You're _not_ worthless. You keep going on about how you let everyone down, but it couldn't be further from the truth. I would have _never_ made it this far if you hadn't been guiding me the whole time. If it weren't for you, I'd just be aimlessly wandering the Island until it was too late to save anyone."

"So I did _one_ thing right," said Kazuma. "What does that change? The last time I was here, I tried to run away while my family was in mortal danger. I left them all to die just to save myself. If that solider hadn't been there, I wouldn't have come back."

"But you _did_ come back," Undyne replied. "Didn't you?"

"W-well, yes, but–"

"But nothing!" Undyne interjected. "Look, I get it. You feel like you screwed up. I _know_ the feeling. But just because you screwed up once doesn't mean that mistake is who you are. You've already proven yourself better than that."

"I wish it was so simple," Kazuma muttered. "But it isn't just one mistake. I've been doing this for as long as I can remember. Running and hiding, even when everyone I care about needs me." His shoulders slumped as he let out a deep sigh. "…I guess there's no getting around the subject at this point. Sooner or later, all of it comes back to my father."

Undyne raised an eyebrow. "Your father?"

"My father was the most horrible man you could possibly imagine," said Kazuma. "He treated Mom and I both like vermin. And every time he tried to hurt Mom, I…. I said nothing. I ran away and hid, fearing that I could be next. I could have tried to help her. I could have tried to stand up to him. But I never did."

Undyne's eye went wide. "Oh my God…"

"It wasn't until I'd learned she was pregnant that I decided we should do something," Kazuma continued. "So we did the only thing I knew how to do. We ran away, as far as we could. Filed for divorce, changed our names, went into hiding. Mom even joined the Supernatural Affairs Agency just so she could keep her personal information secret. But no matter what we did, we couldn't escape from him."

"What happened?" said Undyne.

"Our father started working for the SAA himself," said Kazuma. "How he managed to find us through the bureaucracy, I don't know. Either way, that's exactly what he did… and he got himself assigned to our expedition to the Island one year ago. Even after everything he'd done to us, we couldn't have been prepared for what came next."

"T-the expedition to the Island?" said Undyne. "But… that's the one where… Kazuma, what are you saying?"

"Sakamoto is my mother's maiden name," Kazuma replied. "It's same not the name I was born with. It's Date. Kazuma Date."

"Date? But isn't that…" Undyne paused mid-sentence, as though her mind was still catching up to her own words. When the realization struck, she nearly fell backwards in shock. " _Holy shit, WHAT!?_ "

"So now do you finally get it?" said Kazuma. "Do you finally get how many people have suffered because I didn't stand up to my father in time?"

"I… I'm sorry, this is just…" Undyne clutched her own forehead, the gill slits on her neck venting forcefully as she fought to control her own breaths. "…I don't believe it. I-I just can't believe that this whole time…" She looked at Kazuma with a dilated pupil. "Does… does Sue know about this?"

"Of _course_ she doesn't know," Kazuma replied, his voice shaking. "What was I supposed to say to her then? What am I supposed to say to her _now?_ That she was never supposed to be born? That the person who tried to kill us all is secretly her father?"

"I… I'm sorry," Undyne said, "I-I really had no idea."

"No, it's fine," Kazuma replied. His voice was weak and dry, as though it had been forcibly drained of life. "None of this is your fault. You couldn't have known anything about it."

"Hey. Kazuma." Once again, Undyne had placed her hand on Kazuma's shoulder. The warmth in her body had returned, but this time he felt its soothing effect much more prominently: the numbness within him had all but vanished, and the pain that replaced it afterward melted away, leaving behind an inner calm. "I know you've been through a lot, but… we'll make it out of this. You and me both."

"Yeah, thanks," said Kazuma. He stretched his arms out and let out a yawn. "I, uh… I think I'll be heading to sleep. Maybe I'm not ready to die yet after all."

Undyne replied with a yawn of her own. "Yeah, me too. See you in the morning, alright?"

"Sure."

Kazuma laid himself down on the ground. By the time he closed his eyes, the exhaustion from the night had already set in, and he drifted away into a deep sleep.

* * *

When morning finally came, Kazuma was immediately greeted by the familiar sight of a toothy smile with an armored body attached to it.

"Have a good rest?" said Undyne.

Kazuma rubbed his eyes as he stood up, clearing the grogginess from his head. He looked over to the end of the ledge and saw and endless expanse of clouds in the daylight, though the sun was nowhere to be seen. He realized that they must be on west side of the Island.

"I guess it could have been worse," said Kazuma. "We ready to continue our climb?"

"I'm ready whenever you are!" Undyne cheerfully replied.

The journey further up the side of the Island was much like it had been before, Kazuma clinging tightly to Undyne's back as she scaled the Outer Wall, climbing up the sheer surfaces, leaping across the

found himself surprisingly comfortable. Though his desire to fall had been reduced to a single nagging voice in the back of his mind, he found that he had no fear of plummeting either.

"Look, we're almost there!" Undyne called out as she continued to scale the wall. Sure enough, Kazuma followed her upward gaze and saw that the sheer cliffside had ended about hundred feet up up with no sign of any further wall, signifying the topmost point they could climb to.

"Hey, you're right!" Kazuma replied. "Nice going, Undyne! We'll reach the Village in no time!"

"Don't relax just yet, we still have one final stretch!" said Undyne. "Come on, let's do thi–"

 ** _FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!_**

The sudden burst of sound, heat, and light was so intense that it nearly threatened to envelop all of Kazuma's senses. The burning sensation in his eyes, ears, and skin was almost unbearable, yet he continued to maintain his grip on Undyne's armor more tightly than ever before.

He looked upwards, squinting to prevent himself from going blind, and saw the source of the disturbance: a massive, laser-like beam of crimson flame had burst out of the cliffside, nearly ten feet in diameter, its edge only a dozen feet above where the two were climbing. As it traveled it moved in a straight line, diagonally upward from its exit point, where it disappeared into the sky.

Kazuma felt a sudden jostling motion. When he looked down, he saw that Undyne's hands were beginning to slip.

"T-too hot… can't take it…"

" _Undyne, no!_ "

Kazuma's cry was met with no response. Undyne fell unconscious, and the two found themselves plummeting off the Island's edge.

The next several seconds that passed seemed to last for hours. Kazuma closed his eyes tightly as fleeting visions of his life appeared within his mind, only to disappear just as quickly. Nevertheless, a particular sense of irony remained firmly lodged within his otherwise panicked thoughts.

Undyne had spent so much effort trying to convince him not to jump to his death, and now here he was falling off the Island anyway. If he weren't so startled he would have laughed out loud.

"Ugh… Kazuma?"

Kazuma opened his eyes, and saw Undyne falling alongside him, the only object distinguishable from the blurred background of clouds that passed as they descended.

Then, suddenly, her eye popped open as wide as he'd ever seen it before.

" _Oh my God, we're falling!_ _Kazuma, I-I'm so sorry! I…_ "

Kazuma reached over and grabbed Undyne by the hand. Despite his initial reaction, he found himself smiling warmly. "You don't need to apologize. Neither of us could have seen this coming."

Tears began to pool in Undyne's eye as she met his gaze. "…So this is it, huh? This is how we die? Is this really how it all ends?"

"It looks like it," Kazuma replied. "For what it's worth Undyne, I… I'm glad that I met you. Even if it didn't amount to anything… you probably saved my life last night."

Undyne exchanged a wordless look with Kazuma, a maelstrom of emotions flashing across her face in succession. Finally, she pulled in Kazuma tightly and wrapper her arms around his waist. Kazuma returned the gesture, and two cried into each other's shoulders, with no sound except the whistling of the air passing by.

The two shared their embrace for what felt to Kazuma like minutes. Several minutes, in fact. Longer than it would have taken to reach the ground. At first he assumed that it was a trick of his own perceptions in the face of impending doom, but he soon came to realize that he could no longer feel or hear the air moving past him. And he could feel that there was something below him, just beneath his legs.

Kazuma and Undyne both opened their eyes and looked downward. Both of them found themselves sitting atop a small dragon, roughly the size of a large horse, its tiny wings beating rapidly as it carried them both over the endless expanse of trees on the Earth's surface. The dragon looked over its shoulder and softly cooed.

" _Tenryu!_ " Kazuma cheered. "You came back!"

* * *

 **A/N: The big twist of this chapter may come as a surprise to some people, but it's something that I've tried to foreshadow in several places, even if it may be subtle enough that not everyone will have picked up on it. It's not remotely based on anything in canon, obviously, but it's something that, given the materials I've worked with, fits in with the general tone, theme, and direction that I've been meaning to take this fic.**


	42. Chapter 41

Asgore felt like his head had been split open. Pain drilled its way deeply into his skull, leaving a sensation that enveloped every single one of his senses, even as they had remained seemingly nonexistence. The last thing he remembered was standing on the teleporter, and then being hit by an explosion of light and noise.

"As…or…"

Slowly, the pain began to weaken, though it left still behind a throbbing ache that made it difficult to think. Sound began to creep towards the edge of his sensations, becoming closer and closer to his awareness.

"Asgore, Wake up!"

"Gnhh…" Asgore couldn't speak anything except an incoherent moan. Too many sensations were whirling about disorganized in his head, he couldn't make sense of them enough to even be aware of his own body. Slowly, he began to regain his senses enough to realize he was lying down on a hard surface, made all the less comfortable by the heavy armor he was still wearing.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and was greeted with Toriel staring down at him, her eyes on the verge of tears. Seeing her face with such concern written on it brought clashing emotions flooding into his heart; he wasn't sure whether to be cherish the sight of her or be bitterly reminded of the pain he'd endured since she left. It was a combination of feelings he'd gotten very accustomed to recently.

She reached out her hand, and Asgore grabbed onto it, allowing Toriel to pull him up to his feet. As he stood, he took a moment to observe his new surroundings.

Around them was a single corridor built from steel and concrete, but it looked as though it had been ravaged by the force of an earthquake. Gargantuan piles of broken machinery lined the hall on either direction, sharp spikes jutted out from the surface of the walls and ceiling, and the ground itself was scorched and cracked, the smell of sulfur leaking from the small fissures in the floor. Each of the broken machines that lined the hall contained a gigantic egg, every single one of them cracked and broken, some with large piles of dust spilling from their interiors.

Asgore's eyes went wide. "This… This is…"

Toriel's eyes drew towards the ground. "The Egg Corridor," she said.

Asgore paused, taking in the sight of desolation around him, feeling the stench of decay and death washing over his senses. A part of him knew that he should have expected to see something like this, given what he learned of the Island's history, but it was still hard to believe. "...So then, the sky dragons?"

"They are most likely gone," said Toriel.

Asgore's fists clenched by his sides, and a rage burned within him that he had not felt in a very long time. The sky dragons were a once majestic race of monsters, hunted to near extinction by humankind. The eggs in the egg corridor were the last of their kind, trapped forever in an unborn state without a mother to incubate them.

And now, they weren't even that. They were gone _._ An entire species, monsters vast as the horizon and as gentle as a morning breeze, and they were _gone._

Asgore felt a warm hand come to rest on his shoulder. He looked over to see Toriel staring at him with deep, soulful eyes. The tension faded from his body, and he let out a heavy sigh, not of relief but of resignation.

"There is no time to dwell on this," said Asgore. "Do you know what happened to the others?"

Toriel shook her head. "No, I do not. I have not seen any sign of them since the accident." There was a subtle quivering in her voice that most wouldn't have noticed, but centuries of familiarity had made it all too familiar to Asgore.

"I see," said Asgore. "You are worried about Frisk, then."

Toriel paused, a small frown crossing her muzzle. Her eyes had a dull character to them, in stark contrast to the warmth that they had in ages past. "My child has faced many dangers in the Underground. I had hoped that he would never have to face them again."

Asgore felt a dull pang within his heart. Regret. Now _that_ was a feeling he had gotten used to. "No child should ever be forced to endure such hardships. I should have realized that a long time ago." He did his best to ignore the stern glare his remark had earned. "Come, let us make our way back to the Village."

Toriel's eyes widened. "The village? But what of the others?"

"We cannot hope to search the entire Island by ourselves," Asgore replied. "Our best chance is to find Professor Booster and seek his aid. He will no doubt offer us a wealth of information we can use to conduct a search."

"…Yes, I suppose you are right," Toriel admitted. Though her face remained stoic on the surface, Asgore could pick up a symphony of dissonant emotions in its creases. Finally, after a very long hesitation, she reached out with her hand. "Lead the way."

It had taken several moments for comprehension to dawn on Asgore. "You… you want me to hold your hand?"

Toriel frowned, averting her eyes from Asgore. "Do not think this means anything. I… I simply think we would be safer staying close, for now."

Memories flashed into Asgore's mind, a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings that he couldn't quite articulate. Before he even realized it, he had taken Toriel's hand.

"O-oh?" said Toriel.

"Come with me," said Asgore. "We will make it through this, together."

Feeling the warmth in Toriel's palm, Asgore led the two of them further down the ruined corridor, into the unknown.

* * *

 **A/N:** **This is easily one of the shorter chapters I've written, but not without reason. Asgore and Toriel's section after being split off will likely be substantially shorter than the others, as there isn't nearly as much exposition and foreshadowing to put in here. Expect most of their journey to consist of further developing their previously-established character dynamic.**


	43. Chapter 42

The Egg Corridor had changed significantly in the centuries since Asgore had last been there. That much was certain. But looking at it now, it was hard to grasp the magnitude with which it had been transformed.

Asgore remembered the Egg Corridor as a hallway built out of stone and marble, an ancient ruin of a civilization that had long predated any monsters that existed on the island. The eggs were placed between great carved columns, light filtering through the Island's walls from the glassless windows.

Now, however, the Corridor had become something else entirely. A passage of nightmarish machinery, an artificial landscape of electronics and wire even before the entire area had been demolished. What was left of it now looked like a scene straight out a dystopia: a heap of charred, scrapped wreckage in the wake of a catastrophe. And that was to say nothing of the eggs themselves, left split apart as the ashen remains of their contents spilled into the hallway.

Just what had _happened_ here?

No. That question wasn't important right now. The most important thing to do was to survive. The feeling of his ex-wife's palm in his hand was the only thing that could keep his attention focused on the path ahead, away from the sights of tragedy. The Egg Corridor was a simple one-way path leading to the Outer Wall, all they needed to do was follow it.

But then something new appeared in their sights, and both he and Toriel were forced to stop in their tracks. It was a single infant sky dragon, unconscious on the ground before them. Its body was emaciated, sickly pale in coloration, and almost seemed to be rotting as it rested on the floor.

" _Oh! Goodness!_ " Toriel let out a gasp.

"Toriel, wait!" Asgore cried out, but his words were promptly ignored. In an instant, she had bolted ahead and joined the dragon by its side.

The dragon showed no sign of moving as Toriel leaned over it, placing her hand on its forehead. She closed her eyes in concentration, no doubt attempting to search for something resembling a pulse. As Asgore finally caught up to her, he could see the slightest hint of moisture beneath her eyes.

"Tori…"

Tori looked up, her hand still resting on the dragon's forehead. "What could have done this?" Her voice quivered as she spoke. "What could have forced a monster to have fallen down just after its birth? What could have caused it to suffer like this?"

Asgore didn't answer. There were a number of responses he could have given, but none of them were needed. Instead, he reached out with a hand, and placed it on her shoulder.

A subtle _hum_ of magic flowed through Toriel's body. She placed both of her palms on the dragon's body, a white glow encompassing her hands.

"Toriel, wait," said Asgore. "If it is truly fallen down—"

"I must try!" said Toriel. "I cannot do nothing!"

The healing magic in Toriel's hands pulsed even more strongly, ripples of white light cascading across the dragon's body. Suddenly, the sky dragon's eyelid began to twitch, slowly prying itself open.

Toriel lifted her hand from the dragon's head, staring in equal parts joy and surprise. "Oh! It worked! Thank the gods, I was so worried!"

Asgore exhaled, feeling a tension in his body dissipate that he didn't even know was there. "So perhaps it was not fallen down after all, then."

Toriel looked the baby dragon straight in the eye. Her own eyes had taken on a gentle, nurturing sheen that Asgore had rarely seen in the past century. "Are you alright, my child? Are you hurt?"

The dragon didn't appear to notice. It blinked several times, rubbing the dirt from its eye. Then, when its eyes finally met Toriel, it froze.

There was a sudden, bleating cry, paired with the swipe of a vicious claw. In the span of an instant, Asgore was sent flying backwards, his entire field of vision knocked into blurry incoherence. When his senses cleared, he found himself kneeling on the ground some distance away from where he previously stood.

The sky dragon, meanwhile, had pinned Toriel to the ground in a predatory pounce. Toriel trembled as the dragon held her in place with murderous intent in its eyes. It opened its mouth, and a white-hot fire glowed within the back of its throat.

Asgore's trident was at his side in the span of an instant. The reaction was swift, effortless, so much so that it had taken no forethought at all. He lunged forward, and all three prongs of the trident pierced the dragon right in the center of its body.

The dragon let out a pained, gurgling cry. Its body exploded into a large cloud of dust, leaving both boss monsters covered head-to-toe in its remains.

As his trident dissipated into thin air, Agore looked down and saw Toriel stare up at him, her entire body trembling in revulsion and terror. His chest seized up, feeling at once like he'd made every mistake of his life all over again.

He couldn't even bring himself to look at Toriel. It was like a reflect, turning away from her the moment she picked herself to her feet.

"How…" her voice started at barely a whisper, but her subsequent words grew to outright thunderous volume. "How _could_ you!?"

"I was trying to save you," Asgore replied dryly.

"That didn't mean you had to kill!" Toriel shouted back. "That sky dragon was only a child! Barely out of its egg! And you killed it! _"_

" _And would you have preferred that I let you die!?_ " Asgore spun around, and his shout echoed throughout the Egg Corridor, reverberating off the mechanical walls. "Had I acted even a moment later, you would have been killed! I had only done what was necessary to save you!"

Toriel flinched from the sudden noise. Her entire body trembled, tears already falling from the corners of her eyes. Her hands clenched into fists as she stared into Asgore's eyes. "No," she spoke. Her voice started barely above a whisper, but finished with the ferocity of a lion's roar. "There is always another way. You are simply too much of a _coward_ to look for it!"

A snort escaped from Toriel's nostrils, and she turned around in a huff, her feet stomping against the Corridor's floor.

"Tori, wait—"

"Do not talk to me," Toriel shot back. "And do try to keep up. I will not wait for you."

Asgore sighed. For a short time, it had seemed like the old wounds had begun to heal, yet now they were opened as wide as ever. Hearing Toriel speak to him in such a way still stung much the way it did so many years ago, yet a part of him had also grown to expect it.

With a heavy heart, Asgore began following after Toriel, taking caution not to approach her too closely. He could always recognize when she needed her own space. The darkest of memories clouded his mind as his footsteps dragged along the floor. Memories of a time long gone by, memories of hope and joy, and memories of the day that all of it was snatched away. He could hear his own voice, desperately pleading his adopted child to cling to life. He could see his own son passing through the Barrier, struck with mortal injuries. He could smell the stench of death as Asriel turned to dust. He could feel Toriel's words striking him directly in the heart as she ran away in anguish. No matter how distant the events truly were, they had remained fresh in his mind ever since.

Yet this time, as he recalled the memories again, something was different. Shortly before Toriel left, a single flower had grown, from the exact same place on the ground that Asriel's ashes had covered. He'd cared for that flower for decades, the one reminder he had of the son he lost, lovingly providing it with everything it needed to grow and flourish. From the seeds of that one single flower, an entire garden had grown in his own throne room. When the flower simply disappeared one day, he felt like he had lost something truly important.

Until, that is, the flower came back. It was different when it returned, no longer a mere plant, but something with a will of his very own. Yet no matter how the flower had changed, Asgore would recognize it anywhere. The very same flower he had nurtured was the creature that had stolen the souls of every monster in the Underground.

As he pondered the memories, others came to mind. Not the ones of times long gone by, but recent memories, conversations held just before he had departed for the Island.

 _"Hmm... maybe the other Angels of Death, then? There are quite a few notable ones. For starters, there's Michael, Gabriel, Asriel, Sariel..."_

 _"Deep down, he really did care about everyone. I just... had to remind him of that. That's all."_

Another thought crawled its way into his mind, bidden by the words that he'd recalled hearing just earlier that day. It was a crazy thought, so much so that he nearly dismissed it out of hand the moment he'd had it, and yet…

…and yet, on some level it seemed almost plausible. The flower's speech was distorted and garbled, like a child's voice speaking through a tin-can telephone with a frayed wire, yet through the distortion there was always something about it that Asgore found strikingly familiar. And now, with everything that had happened previously that day, Asgore was absolutely _certain_ he had heard it before.

And more importantly, he knew exactly where.

Asgore was so caught up with his own thoughts that he didn't even notice that Toriel had stopped walking, and he very nearly ended up colliding into her from behind.

"Hey! Watch where you are going!"

"Sorry," Asgore sheepishly replied. It only took a moment for him to see what Toriel was looking at.

There, at the very end of the Corridor, was a single stone building, kept miraculously intact despite the ruination that nearly every other construct in the Egg Corridor had suffered.

"Is this where the entrance to the Outer Wall used to be?" said Asgore.

"It would seem so," Toriel replied. "I was hoping we would be able to climb the wall ourselves."

"The entrance may still lie within the building," said Asgore. "Perhaps we should investigate."

It didn't take any further coaxing to convince Toriel to enter the building. She turned around and entered through the door, with Asgore following closely behind.

What Asgore saw inside was far from what he expected. He didn't know what to expect, to be fair, but it certainly wasn't the scene that lay before his eyes.

The room was a very dark chamber, with only a few lights shining on the broken shell of a massive sky dragon egg, placed on an apparent incubator labeled with the number zero. Machinery clicked and whirred idly, while a single computer sitting on a desk was placed by the egg's side.

But that's not what Asgore was looking at. What he was looking at was a single figure by the wall, draped in a purple cloak, building what appeared to be a smaller version of Momorin's teleporter. The teleporter whirred to life as blinking lights began to flicker on its body, and the cloaked figure turned around, carrying a wrench in its dull-colored hand.

"Tra la la… Oh, hello there, Asgore. Hello, Toriel. It's nice to see you both again."

Both boss monsters stared slack-jawed at the figure before them. The cloaked figure's voice was unmistakable, as were their mannerisms.

"The Prophet!" Toriel gasped. "But how?"

An otherworldly giggle escaped from the Prophet's hood, somehow seeming to come from all directions at once. "Time and distance are no obstacles to me. Everywhere you look, no matter the land or era, I am already there…"

Asgore shook his head. In the hundreds of years that had passed, the Prophet was still just as cryptic as they always were.

"So why are you here?" asked Toriel. "Have you come to aid us?"

"That I have," replied the Prophet. "I've made sure to have this teleporter built for you by the time you arrive. Now that it's in working order, you should be able to return home without a problem." The Prophet glided to the side, and the teleporter whirred to life, its central chamber lit with blue energy. "Whenever you are ready, feel free to step in."

A smile crept its way across Toriel's face. "Thank you, Prophet. Truthfully, I have always been perplexed by you, but I trust you intend to help us." She stepped into the teleporter, and with a loud _whirr_ , she was gone.

Asgore turned to face the Prophet, a heavy crease appearing on his brow. He knew what he wanted to say, but the exact words eluded him, somehow.

"Is there something you wish to tell me?" said the Prophet.

Asgore closed his eyes and exhaled, letting the tension that had built up within him release. "I… I have a question. About the prophecy you gave us. The one of the Delta Rune, and the Angel that would set us free."

"I know of what you speak," said the Prophet. "What about it?"

All of a sudden, Asgore's body felt heavy. A weight pressed down on him from somewhere he could not identify. "…Did you know that the Angel would be my son?"

The Prophet shook their head. Though their features remained concealed, Asgore was almost certain he could read a look of sorrow on them. "I know all that there is to know. But fate has many paths, and even I don't have the power to direct all of them. This path is simply one where you wouldn't learn the truth."

The weight on Asgore's shoulders didn't let up as he stared the Prophet straight into the space where their eyes would be, hoping to find any sign of an answer. But the answers, he realized, would not come to him.

"I see," said Asgore. He didn't, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything else. "Thank you regardless, Prophet. Your aid is greatly appreciated." His footsteps shuffled wearily as he made is way over to the teleporter, and stepped inside.

"Asgore, wait," said the Prophet.

Asgore's eyes widened, if ever so slightly. "Oh?"

"Before you go, I just wanted to tell you something," the Prophet replied. "I… I wanted to tell you that she really does love you. She may never forgive you, but you do mean a lot to her. I want you to remember that. I want you to find happiness where you can, while you still can."

Asgore simply stared back. It was unexpected to hear such things coming from the Prophet, but the words had a certain reassurance. Warmth crept into the edges of his soul, and he found himself smiling.

"Thank you, Prophet."

The teleporter whirred to life, and then Asgore vanished.


	44. Chapter 43

Mettaton's entire body was in agony. Pain itself was still a relatively new feeling, as was even having a body to feel it, but it was absolutely unmistakable. From head to toe, he felt nothing but pain. Yet slowly, the pain gave way to an even more unpleasant feeling. Fear. A deep, powerful fear that burrowed into his mechanical gut, echoing over his very soul.

Something had gone terribly, horribly wrong. There was absolutely no denying that. But what exactly it was, Mettaton did not know. His eyes remained stubbornly closed, resisting any efforts that he made to open them.

A sound crept its way onto the edges of his hearing. It was a soft, intermittent scuttling noise, like many long and thin wires scraping against a hard surface. The sound then gradually began to grow louder, more persistent. Not just louder, but also _closer._

Dread clutched at Mettaton's heart. His senses were becoming sharper now, and all around him he could smell the stench of death. He forced his eyelids ajar, and what he saw made him gasp in terror.

Robots. Dead robots. Hundreds and hundreds of broken, rusted, and mangled corpses, haphazardly thrown into a massive pile that spanned the entire length of the closed chamber he occupied. But there were also other things living among them: giant cockroaches that skittered about the heap of bodies, picking apart the lifeless machinery and carrying the bits and pieces away in their arms.

The very moment Mettaton made a sound, every cockroach in the chamber turned to face him. Their mandibles chittered hungrily as the dim light glinted off their compound eyes. It was then, in the midst of a sudden flight response, that he came to a realization. His arms and legs were no longer functioning. As the insects rapidly descended upon him, Mettaton let out a desperate scream.

"No! Stay back! _Somebody help!_ "

But nobody came.

* * *

"Mmmnnnnggh…"

The pained groan escaped Sue's throat with some reluctance, echoing off walls that she couldn't see. It was immediately clear that she was lying down on a soft surface, given the unmistakable feeling of cushioning beneath her head. In fact, her entire body was snugly wrapped in what could only be a thick blanket. As her thoughts turned to the most recent events, doubt began climbing into her mind. Had it all been just a dream?

The moment she opened her eyes, it was immediately clear that it had all been real. If it were a dream, she would have awoken to find herself back in her own bedroom. Instead, what she saw was a stark contrast to anything resembling home. She was lying down, not on her own bed, but on a small cot in an entirely unfamiliar setting.

The room was part of a laboratory, that much was certain, but it was much unlike any laboratory she'd seen before. Rather than being built from clean, polished machinery and state-of-the-art electronics, it looked like something straight out of a steampunk artist's fever dream. The room was covered in tangles of brass tubes, valves, and large boilers that hissed with pressurized steam. Yet despite the heat that steam power would have generated the room was strangely cold, so much so that Sue felt a chill when she removed her blankets.

A trickle of fear ran down Sue's emotions, but it was quickly overwhelmed by the sudden flood of curiosity within her. She slowly climbed out of bed, examining the room more closely. Despite the myriad steamworks lining the walls, it appeared to only a small side-chamber, with only the cot and a small bedside desk as its furnishings. Sitting atop the desk was a brass oil lamp with a glass chimney, though instead of a flame it appeared to have a small, bright blue orb of lightning that pulsed and crackled within its container. Set just beneath the lamp was a small, handwritten note. She reached out and grasped the note in her pawed hand, squinting to read the message written on it.

 _Dearest mimiga,_

 _I apologize in advance for not being present. I'm a very busy man, and my work leaves me with little time to get to know you in person. If you wish to leave, there is an exit in the main room to the right, which you can access by pulling the red lever._

 _Normally, I'd strongly advise against heading out into the Labyrinth, but I have reason enough to believe that you're capable of handling yourself. If you do, however, you should be warned that the gaudi out there are under the effects of a centuries-old curse. It's a long story, but to put it simply, they and the mimiga tried to steal the Core and turn it into a weapon during the first Demon Crown War. Jenka didn't take kindly to this, and cursed the gaudi so that they would have an insatiable craving for mimiga flesh, turning them against their former allies. Given that monsters turn to dust when they die, the gaudi soon made a habit of keeping their newfound prey alive as long as possible while devouring them…_

 _…but I digress. The point is, if you're not careful out there, you will meet quite possibly the most gruesome end imaginable. You may have no choice but to defend yourself, but do try not to cause too much damage. You're certainly much stronger than you look, that much I can tell._

 _Take care of yourself,_

 _ΩΜ ΊΓΑ_

Sue's mouth hung loose as she finished reading the message. Who _was_ this person? Was he the one that took her in? How did he know how strong she is? Did he know she had a human soul?

The questions whirled around like a maelstrom in her brain, yet all the while a new feeling welled up within her gut, a feeling that she wouldn't find the answers she wanted here. Whatever happened during the teleporter accident had separated her from her family, as well as all her new friends. One way or another, she had to find them. She had to make sure they were safe.

Ironclad resolve poured into Sue's body. The next thing she knew, she was already following the note's instructions, heading out the door to the right and into the laboratory's main room.

If the bedroom was something out of a steampunk artist's fever dream, the main laboratory was something above and beyond even that. The tangles of copper tubes lining the walls had grown so thick that they were practically impenetrable, connecting themselves to a massive assortment of boilers, spark gaps, and cathode ray tube monitors, among other machines that Sue couldn't even begin to identify. On a wall along the length of the elongated room, was a large metal table with an assortment of shriveled leaves and desiccated thorny vines scattered on top of it. Despite the unmistakable signs of plant life, the only thing close to it was a single brown flower pot tipped onto its side, spilling dirt onto the table's surface.

As she examined the strange table, Sue's eyes were drawn to another sight. On the far wall, on the end of the room opposite the door she'd entered through, was a roughly human-sized glass tank attached to a brass base, embedded a single CRT monitor showing a steady sine wave against a green background. The tank was filled with a vicious, brightly-glowing red liquid. For a moment it almost looked like there was a humanoid figure floating in the liquid, but it was far too thick for her to tell for certain. On each side of the tank was a shelf, each shelf holding six horizontal glass cylinders. Within each of the twelve cylinders was a brightly glowing red orb. Each orb flickered intermittently as a series of twelve glass tubes, each connecting the cylinders to the central tank, appearing to siphon more of the glowing red liquid from the orbs and deposit it into the tank.

A shudder ran down Sue's spine, unbidden. While she had no idea what she was seeing, a sickening knot tying itself in her gut told her that she didn't want to see any more of it. She quickly scanned the room for any sign of the lever that her bedside note had told her about. Sure enough, she found it, a massive lever with a large red knob installed on the floor, next to a gigantic metal door.

Without another word, Sue hurried over to the lever, which yielded to her pull with a loud _ker-chunk._ There was a hiss of steam as the door opened from the bottom up, leading into a dank, musty corridor filled with scrap. Despite the hostility she was sure she would meet from the native gaudi, Sue wasted no time in bolting out the door, not even bothering to look back as the door closed behind her.

* * *

Unknown to anyone else, a pair of beady little eyes watched Sue as her bare feet pattered down the Labyrinth's winding passage. The creature felt her stem tense at the sight, the bright red color from the petals surrounding her face seeming to seep into her field of vision. Resentment clawed at her nonexistent gut, filling her with an anger she hadn't felt since... well, since a time she didn't particularly like to think about.

"I'll get you someday, Sakamoto," she hissed. "Mark my words."


	45. Chapter 44

It was quickly becoming apparent where the Labyrinth got its name from. Almost immediately, Sue had already found herself getting lost within the many intersecting corridors, each of which was indistinguishable from the last. With each step, a deep musty scent assaulted her nostrils, clogging her airways with nigh-unbearable dryness.

And worst of all was the complete and utter silence of her surroundings. Despite the dire warning of the mysterious letter, she'd not encountered a single gaudi, or even a trace of any other living thing. Contrasted to the stillness, the otherwise gentle fall of her footsteps sounded like a cacophonous echo. And then there was dust. Everywhere she walked, a thin layer of dust coated the ground, and feeling it cling to the fur beneath her feet brought a horrifying chill to her spine.

One thing was clear, and that was that something here was very, very wrong. But what it was, Sue couldn't say.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed by the time she found something noteworthy. It had seemed like she'd been walking in circles, and it could have been for hours just as much as it could have been minutes. But at last, she'd come across something.

It was a small shack, built out of dilapidated wood, propped up against the stone wall of the cavern. Its construction was so roughshod that it looked like it could collapse at any moment, yet the layer of dust surrounding it made it clear that it hadn't been touched in a long, long time. The small wooden door was without a doorknob, yet it lay open on its rusted hinges, letting Sue catch a brief glimpse of the darkened room within.

Sue inhaled, briefly coughing as a mote of dust lodged itself in her windpipe. Exploring the corridors had gone nowhere, so she might as well take a look. Slowly, she stepped past the doorframe and into the shack proper.

The interior of the shack was a single, darkened room. Whoever constructed it had apparently only bothered to build three walls, as the wall opposite the door was merely the wall of the cavern itself. Within the stone wall was another small wooden door, built into what appeared to be a natural opening into another corridor.

The room itself was devoid of any furniture, save for a crudely-carved wooden desk with a similarly-crude chair before it. Both were covered in the same dust as the rest of the shack's interior, but Sue's eyes were quickly drawn to something else that lay on the desk as well.

It was a book. A very plain-looking book, bound in unlabeled, simple brown leather, yet it managed to stand out just by its very presence. Sue cautiously stepped forward and approached the desk, grasping the book in her hands. Her nose wrinkled as she brushed the layer of dust off the cover, and then cracked the tome open. Though it was difficult to see in the dim light, she was just barely able to make out the words handwritten on the aging, yellowed paper. Curiosity swelling within her, she flipped to a random page.

* * *

 ** _June 4th, 161X_**

 _They're dead. This entire time, they've been dead. I don't know how I managed to delude myself into thinking otherwise. For the past five hundred years, I'd held onto the hope that they might one day return, that I would be reunited with the ones who taught me the meaning of love and kindness._

 _But as they failed to return from the surface, my faith that I would see them again only waned. Now, the last flicker of hope has been extinguished, and I am left to grapple with a terrible reality. My caretakers, the closest thing I have ever known to a family, are dead._

 _They are dead, and the humans have killed them._

 ** _June 12th, 161X_**

 _Every day, I can feel my rage growing stronger. How dare they? How dare humanity rob me of the ones who made my life worth living? Even now, I can barely bring myself to write in this journal. My hands are shaking at the mere thought of it._

 _And yet, I can't stop. I need to keep my thoughts clear and coherent if I wish to serve my duty. My responsibility has always been, first and foremost, to the monsters of the Island._

 ** _July 7th, 161X_**

 _Every day, in my meditations, I am only reminded more of the unprovoked mass slaughter the humans committed, and every day I am more convinced that they must be destroyed. Those of them that are not guilty are complicit in the crimes of their own kind. There is not a single human alive that can claim innocence._

* * *

A lump formed in Sue's throat. As the entries in the journal grew increasingly dire, the centuries-old handwriting began to change. Elegant lines of ink morphed into hurried and furious scrawls, no less eloquent, yet every jagged stroke infused with primal frustration. The lingering dread that hung densely in the air grew thicker and thicker with every word that crossed her eyes.

And yet, in spite of it all she pressed forward. The page resisted Sue's attempt to turn it, so thin and brittle that it was difficult to even grasp an individual sheet within her fingertips. Eventually the page relented, and her attention was greeted with writings even more spiteful and unhinged.

* * *

 _I don't know why I bother. The priesthood is utterly useless even with my help. I should have never introduced the monsters to the faith of the Old Kingdom. No god could have saved them from their hubris. The people of the Old Kingdom destroyed themselves, a fate they entirely deserved._

 _I've stopped keeping track of the days that have gone by. I no longer know nor care how long I've been here. Though my hate for humankind has not faded, I've found within it a renewed purpse._

 _Ballos's hatred drew out the boundless power of his soul, propelling him to nigh-godhood. Yet he could not control that power, as he lacked the clarity to understand it. But I know exactly who I hate, and why I hate them. From this rage and conviction, I have felt my soul begin to shed the weaknesses of humanity. It is only a matter of time before I become something far greater._

 _I almost pity the humans. If only they knew of the demon they have provoked._

* * *

Another chill ran down the length of Sue's spine. Yet still she persisted, her eyes hesitantly turning towards the opposite page. To her surprise, what she found was not another journal entry, but a series of diagrams, runes, and charts she could not even begin to decipher. The elaborate geometrical patterns were paired with all manner of mathematical calculations, yet there was something else about them that she couldn't quite place. The patterns seemed to shift subtly whenever her eyes drifted away from them, and looking directly at them brought a vaguely itchy sensation to the space directly behind her eyes.

Putting the odd feeling out of her mind, she rapidly flipped through the rest of the journal, skimming over its contents. Each page only contained more charts and diagrams of a similar kind, magical etchings whose purpose she couldn't even begin to understand.

But there was one diagram on a page, near to the end of the journal, that she _did_ recognize. There, surrounded by arcane notes and runes, was an intricately detailed drawing of the Demon Crown.

Sue's body began trembling, as conflicting urges began to do battle deep within her mind. A part of her wanted to stop reading at that moment, and bolt out the door as quickly as possible. Another part of her, consumed by its own curiosity, pushed for her to continue reading. In the end, the second part won out, and she turned the last page of the book. On its other side was one final journal entry.

* * *

 _At last, my transformation is nearing completion. As I now begin my rebirth, I have already begun enacting my plan for revenge. Using the ashes of a thousand gaudi, I have created a minion to aid me in my ambitions._

 _Unfortunately, I did not anticipate that this construct would retain the memories of all the monsters used to create it. The conflict of personalities immediately drove it to madness, and it fled deeper into the Labyrinth before I could euthanize it._

 _The next attempt was more successful. Instead of slaying living monsters, I used the ashes of a thousand unborn gaudi eggs. The construct that resulted is childlike in mentality, yet has proven itself completely obedient to my whims. I have yet to give it a name, but believe it would be fitting to name it after a fearsome demon._

 _With the aid of my minion, I have crafted an artifact that will serve as a receptacle for a human soul, bypassing the last human limitations of my body. With the soul I intend to capture, I will be able to amplify my already considerable power, propelling myself directly to the level of godhood._

 _There is no doubt left in my mind now. Today will be the day I grant humanity the extinction they are due._

* * *

Sue's stomach twisted itself into a knot. Her grip on the journal loosened, and the book promptly fell onto the ground, kicking up a tiny cloud of dust as it landed with a _thud._ Thick clouds hung over her mind as she pondered the implications of what she had just read.

Not only had she found the journal of the Demon Crown's creator, she'd learned that their intentions were nothing short of genocidal. Yet humanity was still alive in spite of everything, even the efforts of those who attempted to claim the Crown for themselves. Something had happened in the interim, something that that had granted humankind a chance at continued survival.

She never had a chance to ponder it further, however, as a very loud creaking sound echoed all around her. It sounded like something was moving, but what it was could only be guessed. Sue's imagination went, picturing all manner of horrifying beasts. A more rational part of her mind argued back, telling her it was only the settling of the wood, but the rest of her had dutifully chosen to ignore it, for the sake of her own self-preservation. Better safe than sorry, her instincts figured.

Sue quickly bolted out of the shack, scurrying through the door opposite the door from which she'd entered. Her path led her into another cavern of stone walls and dim light, yet it was curiously absent the thick layer of dust that covered the corridors she'd been running through. She didn't notice, however, as she ran through the passages as fast as her legs could carry her, until finally the force of exertion caught up with her. Her running slowed to a crawl, and she doubled over, resting her hands onto her knees as rapid breaths pushed past her lips.

By the time she'd regained her breath, she quickly became aware of a sound at the edge of her hearing. Something approaching her from the front. As a matter of fact it was several somethings, judging by the skittering of what had to be multiple pairs of legs.

Sue's body tensed, and almost reflexively she assumed a fighting stance. The pattering legs grew closer and closer, and soon, on the edge of her vision, she could see who they belonged to.

There, in the distance of the corridor, was a group of three cockroach-like monsters, presumably the gaudi that she had been warned about. But what caught her attention even more was what they were carrying. There, hoisted atop their shoulders as they advanced single-file, was a machine. It looked vaguely humanoid, and there was a hint of purple coloration to it, but in the darkness of the caverns Sue could not make out its appearance exactly.

As they advanced closer, however, the machine's true nature became immediately apparent. It was the body of Mettaton, broken and deactivated, with both of his legs ripped from their sockets.

Sue's gasp echoed profoundly through the corridors. And the gaudi, at roughly the same time Sue had noticed their cargo, had noticed _her._ They stopped in their tracks almost instantly, and their compound eyes suddenly shifted in character, taking on a very unsettling, very _hungry_ gleam. Saliva dripped from their mandibles, as their wings began twitching in sudden anticipation.

"N-no! Stay away! And get your filthy hands off of him!"

Right away, Sue could feel a burning sensation building up within her chest. Without even consciously thinking of it, the intense heat within her circulated through her body, pooling into her right hand. Before she even knew it, she was grasping an intensely powerful fireball within her palm.

Her next motion was swift and powerful, throwing the fireball incredible force. Yet at the same time, a voice in the back of her mind held her back. It reminded her that she'd never wanted to hurt anyone, and that she'd promised not to use her magic again. But now, it was too late to stop the flames. All she could direct them to a less lethal outcome. The fireball curved at her mental command, zooming past the gaudi and towards the ceiling above them.

 ** _BOOOOOOM!_**

The force of the resulting explosion was so powerful that Sue flinched from the impact, shielding her eyes from the flash of crimson light. When she opened them again, she saw the three gaudi scurrying back down the way they came, and Mettaton's inactive chassis lying face-down on the ground.

Sue let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, her heart pounding so intensely that she could feel its rhythm in her eardrums. She stepped forward cautiously, swallowing the lump in her throat, and approached Mettaton's body. Carefully, she turned him over, examining him more closely.

Thankfully, aside from the severed limbs, he appeared to be almost entirely intact. There were a few scratches on the paint coating his upper torso, and one of the radio knobs on his chest had been broken off, but nothing that suggested he was beyond repair. As she surveyed the damage, Sue noticed that the heart-shaped object embedded in Mettaton's waist was glowing with a faint white light. While she didn't quite understand why, seeing the heart undamaged brought a great deal of warmth to her own, a combination of joy and relief that she couldn't quite explain.

It took a bit of effort on her part, but soon she'd managed to sling Mettaton's body over her shoulders, using his remaining arms. He turned out to be surprisingly light, and she wondered why it had taken three gaudi to carry him. That is, until she realized she was likely stronger than all three of them combined.

"Come on buddy, let's get you fixed up," said Sue. Though she knew Mettaton wouldn't have heard her, she was happy just to have found anyone else.

With renewed spirit, Sue continued making her way down the corridor. In due time, she hoped to find the rest of her friends as well.


End file.
